Better Than Before
by entwined-in-a-web
Summary: Everything seems to be fine for Natalie since her mother left. Her father's back to his normal self, she's expanding her relationship with Henry. But when she gets into some trouble, who will be there to dig her out? bad summary, sorry. REVIEW PLEASE! D
1. Introduction

**A/N: Ok…welcome to "Better Than Before," My Prego-Nat fic. I originally wrote this in September because I was watching Secret Life of the American Teenager and I was like 'huh…what would happen is Nat got pregnant?" And then I threw in a random RENT reference cuz I have an OC from that fandom who would totally bond with Natalie. So….the RENT stuff might take a while to get to cuz I have to set up the basic N2N part of the plot…it's POST-N2N, POST-RENT.**

**This chapter is an introduction. Mind you, I am TOTALLY rewriting the old story, so this is all new material (sorry that it's so short…)**

**REVIEW PLEASE! I wanna know if I should continue or not. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own N2N or RENT…so…yeah…Ok, READ NOW!**

_Fuck…_Natalie thought to herself. _No…Fuck!_

She looked down at the test strip once again….she was pregnant.

Seventeen and pregnant…only seventeen….

She never felt so disgusted with herself in her life. What would people say?

_Look, there's Natalie Goodman, the neighborhood whore. How do you live with that?_

What would her parents say?

_Look what you've done to yourself, Natalie._

_Why'd you do this? Your life is ruined…_

But even worse…what would Henry say? Would he stay with her, would he leave? She felt horrible thinking like that. When the whole mess started, this whole relationship thing, he told her that he loved her. _He says it every time I see him,_ she thought. _He means it. He has to…If he loved me enough to get me pregnant, he'll love me enough to stay with me….right?_

She shook these thoughts from her head. She didn't want to think that it was over…everything…

But she could only think of the guilt.

_How did I get here?_

**A/N: FLASHBACK TIME!!! Read on! Read on! A bit of a smut-ish warning, but it's not really that bad. But the rating will go up.**

**Oh. AND REVIEW!**


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: THIS CHAPTER IS RATED M! Just to be safe….it's not too graphic, but it's still…touchy (bad choice of wording…)…Since Nat and Henry are doing something of a, um, **_**questionable**_** manner…but, it all the more describes the first chapter more. **

**The next few chapters will be written as a flashback. I want to lead up to that moment of realization and then go on to the present from there.**

**(And I promise we'll get to the RENT stuff soon! I have to set this up first!)**

**REVIEW!!!!! I wanna know if I should continue or just stop…so…REVIEW!**

**Disclaimer: Guess what? I don't own N2N! YAAAAY!**

It was late. While Dan was asleep in the next room, Natalie and Henry were still awake. They were alone in her room, entangled in each other's arms, kissing passionately.

"You know I love you, right?" He muttered in between kisses.

"No shit, Sherlock." she scoffed, running her hands through his hair. "I had no idea…"

A smile spread across his face, interrupting the kiss momentarily. She loved this passion, this intensity. The warmth she got from the closeness, the heat of the moment. She didn't mind being so close to him. She wouldn't imagine being this close to anyone else on the planet.

She pressed her lips harder against his, longing for the passion, the love. She began to step closer to him, pushing him in the direction of her bed. Her arms wrapped around him, pulling them closer together. He lost his balance, whether purposely or accidentally she'd never know, finally falling onto the bed, as he dragged her down with him. Her lips never left his. Her hands immediately started to undo the buttons of his shirt.

He noticed her actions and grabbed her hands quickly. "Whoa, Nat…are you sure?"

"Yes." Her lips soon attached to his again.

He turned away, breaking the kiss. "And you think we're ready?"

"Yes…" She rolled her eyes at him in annoyance. "It's not like any of this mattered last time…"

"_Last time_ you got me dead drunk. I wanna make sure we're ready."

"We're ready, Henry, don't worry about it…"

"I know…but this is important to me, Nat. I mean, it's practically our first time-"

"It's _not_ though, ok? We've had sex before!"

He shushed her and scolded, "Watch it…your dad's in the next room…you know he's out to get me…"

"Henry-!"

"_Natalie-"_

She was tired of his whining. She took her chance and pushed him back down on the bed, her lips locking with his again. Her hands went straight for his shirt as his own wrapped around her waist.

"Natalie…"

She slipped off his shirt and stared at him. There he was, in all his shirtless glory, laying beneath her. She giggled and rolled over onto her back next to him, slowly peeling off her own shirt teasingly. He shook his head and did as she nonverbally commanded. His arms were around her still as he kissed her lips, her neck. She smiled brightly and started to play with the waistband of his jeans. She could feel how tense he was, unsure of what they were doing, but he let her do it. He let her finish what she started.

The real action began as both ended up shedding their clothing. She loved this intimacy…the fact that someone loved her _this_ much. The fact that they could feel this comfortable around each other. She loved it all.

She remembered how scared she was the first time. He was more far-gone than she was for once. She remembered kissing him, he groped her in places that she wouldn't have let any other person touch besides him. She remembered her heart racing, he was so close that she could hear his heart beating…

* * *

It didn't last too much longer before they were done, Henry laying next to her. He had a huge smile on his face.

"What?" she asked, scooting closer to him.

"You're beautiful, you know." He took her in his arms, stroking her thick, curly hair.

She let a smile creep up without her noticing. She fell into his embrace. "Henry?"

"Hmmm?"

"I love you…"

He held her tighter, closer to him. He was so closer to her that he could feel the heat of her skin, smell the lavender scent of her shampoo in her hair. "I love you too. More than anything. More than life itself."

If she wasn't in a euphoria now, she'd be making fun of him. She closed her eyes and softly cuddled him.

Everything was perfect….

Too bad it didn't last.

* * *

"Natalie!"

She awoke with a jolt as she felt a hand shaking her. Her eyes fluttered open as she saw Henry sitting next to her, his hand on her still-bare shoulder.

"Hmmm?" she responded groggily.

"Wake up…"

"Why?" She looked over at her clock. "Henry, it's five in the morning…"

"Your dad just woke up and went into the bathroom. Get dressed. I'm leaving."

She sighed and sat up to retrieve her clothes from the floor. She hated being so secretive about sleeping with Henry. Part of her wanted her father to find out, so they could relax a bit. But the other part wanted it to remain a secret. God knows how he's react if he found out his not-even-legal-aged daughter was sexually active.

She watched Henry button his shirt back up, smiling at her. "C'mon. I have to go."

She followed him downstairs and kissed him again before letting him out the door. As it shut quietly, a small smile spread across her face. _He loves me…_she thought. _He really loves me…We 'did it' and we weren't drunk and he loves me…_

She heard her father jiggle the knob of the bathroom door which shocked her out of her trance. She waited for him to go back to his room before she went back into her own room to get some actual sleep.

**A/N: Awww…cute…ish…So….what did you think? Should I continue?**

**REVIEW!**


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: Ok! Chapter three!!! Still flashback mode….Ok, So here's the scoop on Rosie. Rosalia "Rosie" Davis is a seventeen year-old Boho. She is the daughter of Roger Davis and Mimi Marquez (hence the RENT reference part). Both her parents died around the same time from AIDS. She was raised by the awesome Mark Cohen who has a daughter of his own, who will be introduced shortly. Since her parents died a few months before their wedding, Rosie decided to take her mother's surname for extra emphasis on her Hispanic background. She plays guitar, sings, and writes music. She's a very happy, Angel-ish person who, quite like my man Henry, is the exact OPPOSITE of Natalie. Oh. And since my Henry's last name is Davis...SHE HAS NO RELATION TO HIM!**

**So, I hope that clears up any confusion! REVIEW PLEASE! PLEEEAASSE!**

**Disclaimer: No. I don't own N2N. I Don't own my RENT background info. I _do_ own Rosie, though. This is her third story of mine!**

She couldn't go back to sleep. She was too excited to sleep. So at ten in the morning when her father came knocking at her door, walking in to wake her up, she had to pretend like nothing ever happened.

"Nat? Honey, wake up. We have to talk."

Her eyes darted open immediately. Butterflies entered her stomach as soon as he had finished talking. She pretended to wearily wake up and stretch and notice him there.

"Yeah?"

"Look, last night-" _Oh, shit…_ she thought. _There it goes…I'm dead…_

"Y-Yeah?"

"I was talking to your mother." _Oh…my….God….can you say 'close call?'_

"And what did she want?"

Dan took some time to think about his wording. "She wants you to stay with her for the weekend."

Her face fell immediately. "_What?_ Um, no thanks…"

"_Natalie…_This is your mother. At least do this for her."

"But…I mean, this makes no sense! First she just leaves, then she still tries to have contact with us, and now I have to spend the whole _weekend_ with her? That's bullshit!"

"Language…"

"But it's true! Don't you agree? Bull. Shit."

He sighed and shook his head in disappointment. He gave her one of those 'I'm gonna give you the guilt trip until you give in to my demands' sort of stares. She didn't want anything to do with her mother. She was fine the way she was now.

"Just go see your mother, Nat."

She rolled her eyes and turned away, her back facing him. "I still think it's shit…" she muttered.

* * *

Her mother had moved to stupid Scarsdale, New York. It wasn't too far from where Natalie lived, which meant she'd be there a lot more often. She sat in her car, stuck at a red light. She closed her eyes for a minute, feeling tired now. But before she knew it, he heard a huge _bump_! coming from the back of her car.

Her eyes flew open at the noise. "That can't be good…" she mumbled to herself.

She went to pull over to check the damage. Another car had hit the back of her old, used car. She saw the guilty one drive their car over towards her. She got a bit nervous. She had no idea where she was and some stranger was about to come out of their car and talk to her.

But, oh, was she relieved when she found out it wasn't a weird stranger. It was a girl her age. She had a pair of rectangular glasses on, she wore jeans, a t-shirt, and some boots. Her dark brown hair was pulled into two pigtail braids, both framing her sweet caramel-colored face. She gasped as she saw the small dent in Natalie's car.

"Oh, God…I'm _so_ sorry!"

"No, it's ok…" Natalie replied.

"Do you want my information or something?"

"No, seriously, it's fine…" _But…the longer I'm here, the shorter amount of time I have to spend with my mother,_ she thought to herself.

The girl looked once again at the dent. "I'm really sorry though. I was on my way home from the hospital. I guess I didn't notice anyone." Natalie wanted to throw in another 'oh, that's fine. Ok bye!' but before she could say anything, the girl held out her hand to her.

"I'm Rosie Marquez, by the way." She paused and smirked. "Well, _actually_ my name is Rosalia Davis, but Rosalia's so long and Davis didn't fit my image."

"Your _image?_"

"Yeah. I'm just your typical Hispanic teen girl who sings and plays guitar. In a nutshell, I'm a Boho baby."

Natalie stared at her, somewhat confused. "Boho?"

"It's short for bohemian." Rosie explained. "You know, an artist?"

"Yeah…"

She gave Natalie a challenging stare. "So, what's your name?"

"Oh. I'm Natalie. Natalie Goodman."

Rosie reached out and shook her hand, even though he didn't offer it. "Well, Natalie Goodman, what brings you to Scarsdale on this lovely morning?"

She didn't know what to say. She could just explain she was going to see her mentally unstable mother, who left her and her father almost half a year ago, but that wouldn't have made sense to Rosie. So she just said, "Oh. I'm just…visiting family."

"Really? That's cool. I live down here…me and my sister." Rosie paused for a minute to rethink her statement. "Well, she's not _biologically _my sister. Her father practically raised me from birth. Nice guy, too." Natalie almost knew what was coming next. "My parents died when I was only a few days old. They both had AIDS. Like, full-blown AIDS. So, my father' best friend raised me instead with his own daughter."

Natalie stared long and hard at Rosie. How could someone who had suffered through all _that_ be so uncharacteristically happy? "Wow…um, I'm sorry. But I really should be going…"

She tried to walk over to her car when Rosie stopped her. "Wait! Where are you going? Maybe I can show you around?"

Natalie rolled her eyes and reluctantly recited the address for her newfound friend. Rosie smiled her brightest and told her that the apartment complex where her mother lived now was the same building that she lived in. So without haste, both girls got into their cars and drove off to the apartment building.

* * *

The building wasn't nice. But it wasn't disgusting either. It was just an average, good-enough-to-get-by complex. Natalie parked her car right outside of the building as she followed Rosie inside. They slipped into the tiny elevator. She was going to the ninth floor while Rosie was going to the tenth.

"Aw, look at that! We're neighbors!" She cheered. Natalie was starting to get sick of the constant happiness. She reclined against the elevator wall and just rehearsed what she was gong to say to her mother once she arrived. She knew she should be understanding about this, but she also wanted to tell her mother off for leaving them like that. _What do I do? Do I just bring it up? Or do I wait?_ The elevator made a loud dinging noise as the doors opened on the ninth floor.

"Well, I guess I'll see you around, then." Rosie said, waving.

"Yeah…see you…"

"Bye, Nat!"

She groaned and whined, "Don't call me-!" But the door was already closed. She sighed and walked down the hallway to find her mother's room. There it was. The door was freshly painted a blinding, pure white. She knocked impatiently on the door, her hands shaking more and more every time.

It was about five minutes since she had knocked and no one had answered. _Of course,_ she thought. _Leave it to her to leave me out here._ She was about to just give up and walk away when suddenly, she heard a voice call.

"Natalie?"

She shot around to look for the source of the voice. There was her mother, standing right behind her, smiling brightly.

"Hi, Mom."

**A/N: Duhn, duhn, duhn! What shall happen next? Will Natalie confront Diana? Will she learn some more about Rosie? When the hell will it stop being a flashback?**

**WHY AM I ASKING YOU ALL THESE QUESTIONS?!**

**Lol….Reviews?**


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: Ok! Last of the flashback chapters! Now that I've explained the backstory, the next chapters will be in the present, getting some better looks at Prego-Nat.**

**Uh-oh….Tension's building here! What shall happen? READ!**

**(P.S. If you'll notice, I decided to have Diana take up painting to keep her mind off Gabe and her grief because Alice Ripley paints and so I figured, 'what the heck!')**

**(P.P.S. The bold parts of the story below are text messages)**

**REVIEW PLEASE! Thanks to ElianaMargalit and YourEyes1012 for reviewing the last few chapters!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own N2N nor do I own Red Bull (just thought I'd say that)**

"Natalie!" Before she knew it, Natalie was being attacked by a huge Diana hug, which wasn't that bad, if you didn't mind your ribs being broken.

"Ok, _hi_, Mom." she tried to tug herself out of her mother's grasp. "Um, I kind of like breathing, thanks."

Diana pulled away slightly, still beaming at her daughter. "Sorry…it's just…God, I missed you!"

"Yeah…" _Do I bring it up now? _

"We should get inside. Don't wanna disturb the neighbors."

Natalie rolled her eyes, scoffing at the comment. She followed her mother into the tiny apartment. There was a small living room/kitchen complete with furniture and a door which led to the bedroom. She noticed that there were some randomly painted canvasses on the floor. Without her mother noticing, she went over to look through them.

"It's not much, but it's better than nothing." Diana muttered, pretty much to herself. She looked around to find Natalie who had wandered off. She found her looking through the many paintings on the floor.

"Since when do you paint?" Natalie asked, finding one she particularly liked.

"Well, it's a hobby, I guess…" She shrugged and looked out the window for a while.

Natalie was unsure about what to do. She knew that all this awkwardness would go away if she just had to courage to talk to her. _Just bring it up slowly. Act smooth. _

"Y-You know…Dad really misses you."

Diana paused for a moment before her eyes darted over to Natalie. "I know. I miss him too."

_Here goes nothing…_ "Then why'd you leave?"

She took a few seconds to think. She knew that Natalie wanted a straight up answer. She had always been like that, a girl who was very straightforward. "Because I had to."

"That's not a good enough reason to keep us hanging like that!" _This is exactly what I knew was gonna happen…_

"Well, what do you expect me to say? That I left because I didn't care about you and your father anymore? That I'm running away from my problems?"

"No…but what gave you the right to just leave us there?! Why, Mom?"

Diana didn't say anything. She sat there in silence. She wasn't in the mood to fight with her daughter. Not now. She just got her back…

"Mom? God, you're not even listening to me!" Natalie darted away from her mother hastily.

"Natalie, I want _you_ to listen to_ me_, now."

"No! I've been ignored for seventeen fucking years! I will _not_ just sit here and be told another stupid sob story!"

"Natalie-!"

"THAT'S IT! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!" And with that, she darted out of the apartment and back downstairs. She hopped into her now dented car and drove off, absolutely furious.

* * *

She wanted to totally forget that day…too bad that when she went to school that next Monday, who did she see smiling next to her in English? Rosie.

"Omigod!" She cried as she walked into the room, happily.

"Shit…" Natalie mumbled, trying to hide her face. She glared over at Henry, who still sat behind her (it was a tradition now).

"What?" he asked as Rosie sped over towards them.

"It's a long story…"

"Hi!" Rosie waved brightly. Natalie looked about ready to shoot herself. "Isn't this weird how we go to school together? I mean, we just transferred…"

"_Wow._" Henry mouthed silently.

"And who's this?"

He felt his eyes widen as all the attention landed on him. "Oh, um-"

"Oooh, he's kind of cute. Is he your _boyfriend?" _she asked teasingly.

"Actually, yes." Natalie said with some satisfaction, ruining her joke. "That's Henry. Henry, this is Rosie."

He smirked and shook her hand quickly. The bell had rung for class to start, thankfully shutting her up.

* * *

About a month passed. Natalie refused to have any contact with Diana whatsoever. She felt terrible knowing that she was cutting off her mother like that, but she couldn't handle it anymore.

She was in her room one day, doing her homework as usual. She was focused hard on her Physics book, doing some practice problems, when her phone rang, signaling she got a text. She picked it up and looked at the number. _Henry._

**Hey =D**

She rolled her eyes and responded, **Hey**

**What's up?**

**Doing homework…what else?**

**lol…You're so adorable like that…**

**Um…..thanks…?**

He took a pause, which gave her some time to finish her homework. But before long, he started up again.

**Are you ok? You've been acting…weird.**

**Oh. Gee, thanks, Henry…**

**No. I mean _concerning _weird. Are you sure everything's ok?**

She wanted to reply to him so badly but she felt a sudden churning in her stomach. She tried to ignore it at first, but it kept getting worse. _Oh, God…_she thought. _I'm gonna puke!_

She ran out of her room and over to the bathroom across the hall. She positioned herself above the toilet, holding her hair back. And sure enough, within the next few minutes, she threw up, long and hard. She hated throwing up. How disgusting and weak it made you feel. Afterwards, she took a towel from the rack and wiped her mouth, rinsing it out with water as well.

She slowly stalked back into her room and grabbed her phone to text Henry.

**I just threw up…=(**

**Eeew. But you're ok?**

**I dunno…I don't exactly throw up on a daily basis, do I, Henry?**

She was in mid-reply when she heard a knock at her door. It was her father.

"Nat? Did you just throw up?"  
She groaned and admitted, "Yeah."

"Are you sure you're feeling ok?"

"I'm fine, Dad. Don't worry about me."

He gave her a confused yet concerned look as he reluctantly walked away, leaving her alone. Although she kept it cool in front of him, her thoughts were racing.

_Ok…I threw up. It can't be anything more than a stomach flu. That's it. I'm not…I'll take a test tomorrow…I'm not…pregnant…_

_I can't be…._

* * *

She stopped at the convenience store down the street after school the next day to pick up a pregnancy test. She had lied and told the clerk that it was for her older sister, who really didn't exist. She hid it in her book bag and darted straight home.

She waited hours to get herself to have to pee. Drinking Red Bull after Red Bull…She was practically shaking she was so nervous. Yet she tried to deny it.

_Stop worrying yourself. It's nothing. It's probably just a misunderstanding. _

She finally felt that uncomfortable pang, signaling her to run to the bathroom. She quickly did her business and was waiting for the strip to give the results.

_Nothing'll come up_…_You're not pregnant…_

She could barely make out a little blue-ish smudge. "Oh, God…" she whispered to herself. Within the next few seconds, she could see a huge blue splotch covering the test strip.

"No….Fuck!"

Natalie was pregnant.

**A/N: Uh-oh! Natalie! You have some 'splaining to do! Lol…From the next chapter on, it'll be regular present time, meaning really getting into the Prego-Nat storyline.**

**Reviews, anyone?**


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hi people! Ok, so this chapter and all future chapters are present time and follow more of the Prego-Nat storyline. So…yepp….Nat seems a little OOC here, but hey! You would too if you just found out you were pregnant at 17!**

**So, don't flame me on that…Oh, and mentioned is another one of my OCs, Damian! Lol…I luv him….He's sort of based off of Sonny from In the Heights but with a RENT-ish spin. Idk if he'll show up in this story or not…I'll figure it out later.**

**Eeew…I can totally relate with my Natalie right now…I threw up a little yesterday. I'm sick…=( I feel like crap…So PLEASE REVIEW! It'll make me feel better! Thanks guys!**

**Disclaimer: Hey! Guess what? I STILL DON'T OWN N2N! Haha…I surprised you, didn't I?**

"Oh, fuck!" Natalie shouted from the bathroom once again. She was being overpowered by emotions at the moment. First off, she was still in disbelief that she was actually pregnant. Second, she was terrified of who to tell and how much they could be told. And lastly, her heart practically stopped for a second as she realized her father was standing right outside the door.

"Nat? Everything ok?"

_Shit…_ she thought. "Um…y-yeah, D-Dad. Everything's….great…Why wouldn't it be great?"

"Just making sure. 'Cause whenever you're cussing on the top of your lungs it's usually not a good thing."

She had to give him credit for his accuracy. That was the one time she swore the most. Whenever something was wrong. And things were _very_ wrong, indeed.

* * *

She waited for her father to leave so she could practically dart into her bedroom, sticking the test in her pocket. She closed the door behind her and locked it, secluding herself from the rest of the house. She laid on her bed, the pregnancy test in her hands, staring at it. _How can I be pregnant? We….we didn't 'do it' that much…Something must be wrong._

She felt tears begin to roll down her cheeks, which were flushing red. _Everything's ruined,_ she thought. _My whole life is ruined…._

She gasped lightly and jumped as her phone began to ring on the table next to her. Without even looking at the caller ID, she picked it up, sobbing, "H-Hello?"

"Natalie?" It was Diana. Natalie stared at her phone for a minute, bringing it away from her ear. She didn't feel like fighting with her mother now, she was so worn out. All she wanted was someone to listen to her. She needed to tell someone…

She brought the phone up to her ear once again and muttered, "Mom?"

"Natalie, are you crying?" Natalie nodded and softly whimpered in agreement into the phone. "Why?"

She just sniffled some more before bursting into uncontrollable sobs. "M-Mom…"

"What's the matter, sweetheart? You know you can tell me anything…"

Natalie didn't even think twice about who she was talking to. She just quickly blurted, quietly, "I'm pregnant…"

Her mother was a bit lost on the other line. "What?"

Natalie sobbed once again, "Mom, I'm pregnant."

Diana just froze. She knew she heard correctly. But she couldn't believe what she was hearing. Natalie 'I-don't-want-a-boyfriend-me-and-Henry-are-just-friends' Goodman was _pregnant?!_

"Oh, Nat…"

She broke out into long sobs again, almost feeling consoled by her mother for once. "Mom…I'm s-so s-sorry…"

"Shhh….it's ok…It's all gonna be fine…Just relax or you'll miscarry." She tried her best to do what her mother said. "Do you know how far along you are?"

"N-No…" Natalie sniffled pitifully. "But I started puking yesterday. And I feel like shit…"

Diana giggled, "You'll feel worse, trust me…"

Natalie started to cry again as she realized what she got herself into. _Oh God, I'm gonna have to go through all this, I'm gonna have to give birth, and I'm gonna have to raise this child…I can't do it….alone._

"You know who the father is, right?" Her mother asked, with eagerness.

"Yeah…" She muttered, wiping tears from her eyes. "Henry."

"Aww….you two've been having sex?"

"Moooom….now is _not_ the time I want to talk about this…"

"Ok, ok…sorry…But you told him, right?" Natalie paused for a moment, giving Diana the drift that she hadn't told anyone yet. "Ok, so you _haven't_ told him yet. You should probably get on that…"

Natalie tried to protest, "What? Mom, he's not ready to-! He's not supposed to-!" She sighed deeply with defeat and mumbled. "Fine. I'll tell him…"

"And make sure you tell your father."

This is where Natalie drew the line. She would not, repeat _not_, be telling her father _any_ of this! This was strictly information between her mother, her boyfriend, and herself. "I can't…he'll murder me…"

"He will _not._ Do you want me to call him for you?"

"NO!" _That would be even WORSE._ "No. I'll do it…thanks, though. You know…for helping…"

Diana let a smile slip. "Don't worry about. I'm just doing my job…If anything goes on that you're unsure of, just call me, ok? I'm the experienced one here…"

Natalie felt a little guilty about laughing at a time like this, but she laughed anyway. For once, she wasn't feeling the normal tension between her and her mother. For once, everything was going well…

"Ok. I will. Thanks, Mom."

"Sure thing…Bye, Nat. I love you, sweetheart."

She let the words roll off her tongue.

"I love you too, Mom."

* * *

"Do I _have_ to go to school?" Natalie whined that next morning. She just knew someone would find out. Not to mention that she was scared off her ass to tell Henry. She didn't know how he'd react. So…she just worried.

"Yes." Dan replied with a smirk. "Why? You're not feeling good?"

She giggled uncomfortably. "Yeah…something like that…" Her stomach was churning again, whether from nerves or morning sickness she couldn't tell, as her father placed the back of his hand across her forehead, checking for a fever.

"No fever…which altogether means, you're going to school."

She groaned and grabbed her book bag and a granola bar from the pantry as she walked out the door to her car. She started the ignition and backed up out of the driveway. _Ok,_ she thought. _I can do this…I'll just pull him aside and tell him. Get it done quickly…_She sped down numerous streets, finding that driving calmed her down. So when she finally reached the parking lot of the school, she shuddered and remembered why she was so nervous in the first place.

_Ok. I'll just find him now….right now…I'll tell him n-!_

"Natalie!"

She jumped at the sound of her name being called. She half-hoped that it was Henry, but she half-feared it too. She quickly turned around to see who had called her. There was Rosie, running toward her, her long, brown hair flowing gracefully behind her.

"Nat! You'll never believe what happened yesterday!"

Natalie rolled her eyes. "Alright, what happened? And don't call me 'Nat.' The only people who can call me that are my parents and Henry."

"Oh. Sorry…but anyway…You know Damian Rodriguez, right? The drummer from the school band? Well, I was at cheerleading practice yesterday-!"

"Eeew. You're a cheerleader? I can no longer be seen with you in public. It's like social suicide."

Rosie ignored her last statement and went on. "_So,_ the band was out practicing with us for half-time and he saw me doing my flips and stuff, you know gymnastics pays off, and he came up to me and was like, 'you're pretty good.' And I, like, blushed completely and complimented him and THEN he gave me his number and told me to call him! Isn't that _awesome?_"

Natalie was sort of confused, lost in a world of her own. Recently, she was getting used to Rosie's peppy attitude, considering she was like Henry on steroids in girl form. But now, every loud chirp that the girl made gave her _such_ a headache.

She scoffed and replied, "I think I got you beat…"

"Really? What happened to _you_ last night, Natalie?"

_I found out I was pregnant…_ "Nothing…I don't really wanna talk about it…"

Rosie sported a disappointed look and sighed, "Well, ok. I'll see you in English then…"

"'K. Bye." Natalie sighed and fell back against the wall behind her. She looked at her watch. It was already 7:45. Classes started at 8:00. She went over to her locker, not to far from where she was, to get her books for the morning.

"Hey," a calm, familiar voice said smoothly. She gasped and shot around to face the source of the voice. It was Henry.

"Oh. H-hey."

He leaned in to kiss her as he usually did, but she turned back around, facing her open locker. "Um…are you ok, Nat?"

She froze in place, not wanting to respond. _No! I'm not ok! I'm FUCKING PREGNANT! _"Yeah…I'm fine…"

"You sure?" She could tell he was worried about her. He always got like that when he was. "I mean, you threw up the other day. And now you're avoiding me."

"I'm _not_ avoiding you."

"Then look at me."

She knew she couldn't. She wanted him to be satisfied, to think that she was ok. But she couldn't do it. She kept her eyes focused on her locker, her body remaining in that spot.

"Natalie, look at me!" He grabbed her by the shoulder and turned her around so she was facing him. Her eyes avoided his at costs. She couldn't look at him, not without that guilty feeling.

"Henry, please-"

"No. Tell me what's wrong."

"I-I can't…"

"Yes, you can…You can tell me anything, you know that."

She glanced up and met his eyes for a second before bursting into tears. "H-Henry…"

His arms were soon around her as he pulled her closer to him. Her face was hidden in his shoulder as the tears continued to pour. She felt a little bit relaxed in his arms. They gave her a sense of security, like everything was going to be ok. She closed her eyes and took in the familiar Henry-ish scent that followed him around. It always calmed her down. She began to pull away from him, wiping her eyes on her sleeve.

"Are you better now?" He asked, grabbing onto her hand.

She wanted to say yes. But she wasn't better. She felt even guiltier. So without a word, she grabbed her books, shut her locker, and walked away, leaving him there with a miserable look on his face.

As she walked away, Henry could only wonder what was going on. He knew something was bothering her. And he was gonna get to the bottom of this.

**A/N: Uh-oh! Henry's in for some news! I felt like there had to be some connection between Nat and Diana too, so that's why that little part's in there…so yeah…The next part will be up shortly!**

**REVIEW PLEASE! **


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: HAHAHA! I am a workaholic! So…here's the big epic chapter when Natalie finally tells Henry her secret…Of course, he has that total Henry response, but he's Henry like that…lol….**

**So…enjoy! Still sick….blah….=( **

**REVIEW PLEASE! As corny as it sounds, reviews are like my cold medicine right now…REVIEW!**

**Disclaimer: *Clears throat* Attention all readers…I do not, repeat do _not_, own Next to Normal! Thank you for your time and have a nice flight!**

Natalie seemed to avoid Henry at all costs that day. During English, she didn't dare to turn around because she knew he would be there. She knew he would have that face on, the one that always made her feel guilty, the really pitiful one…As soon as the bell rang, she darted away from him. She refused to sit by him at lunch. She needed time to think.

_I have to tell him. Now. Look at him._ She glanced over at him, sitting alone with Rosie, who was talking a mile a minute to a Henry who wasn't even paying attention. He was glancing over at Natalie, sporting a worried look.

_He needs to know. It's his child too…Why am I avoiding him? Why do I feel so guilty around him? I need to tell him now. Right now._

She got up from her lonely table and slowly walked over to Henry, who was relieved on the inside, but was still worried on the outside.

"Hey, Henry?" She asked, staring down at her feet. "C-Can I talk to you real quick? Alone?"

He looked around a bit awkwardly before responding. "Um…yeah…sure."

She waited for him to get up before awkwardly leading him into the hallway, which was unusually quiet.

"So….what is it you want to tell me?" He asked, taking her hands in his own.

She looked him in the eyes for the first time that day. She was about to make her move when she was overpowered by the tears. Her hands began to sweat as she got uncharacteristically shaky.

"H-Henry, _please_, you have to understand…"

"Understand what? Nat, what's going on?"

"Henry, I'm pregnant."

He just froze. He said nothing. He didn't move. "_What?!"_

"We're having a baby…" She collapsed into his arms, crying into his shoulder yet again. He still was unsure of what to do. He knew she needed someone to comfort her now. But he was still in shock.

He grabbed her shoulders and held her away from him for a moment, staring into her big, brown, watery eyes. "Is that what this is about?"

She nodded and whimpered, "Mmhmm…"

He let her head return to his shoulder as he held her there, trying to console her. "Shhh…it's ok…Everything's ok…."

She wrapped her arms around him, securing herself in his embrace. "I'm s-sorry I didn't t-tell you…"

"I know…it's ok…"

She felt his hand on her back, rubbing it up and down. "What are we gonna do, Henry? We can't raise a child…"

"Hey," he muttered in a consoling tone, as he pulled her away to get her to focus. His hand gently caressed her cheek. "Don't think like that. Of course we can raise it…_together_…"

She felt a smile creep up on her unexpectedly. He wasn't leaving her. He was staying. "How can we do this? I'm only seventeen. I'm not ready for a baby yet…"

"Neither am I. But I'll do anything to help you _and_ our baby…I'll marry you if that's what it comes down to…" He took a long pause and whispered into her ear, "Marry me, Natalie…"

She stared at him with disbelief and pushed him away, a bit surprised at her own strength. They'd talked about getting married before. He'd always fantasize about it to her, how he cold see it perfectly in his head. She would laugh at him like he was some sort of kindergartener. But now he was being serious….

"No."

"What? Nat, I thought-"

"No. I'm not gonna get married because I'm pregnant. I'll get married when I'm ready because I love you."

He understood her reasoning. She seemed to be turning into a replica of her mother. He wasn't sure about what to do next. "So…that means eventually, right?"

She nodded and sighed deeply. She got her worries off her chest. But why didn't she feel relieved?

"Henry….I'm so scared…I don't know what to do…"

"Well, first of all, make sure you tell your parents."

"My mom knows already…" she stated, recalling her conversation from the night before.

"What about your dad? Does he know yet?" She shook her head shamefully. "Nat…I know it's gonna be hard, but you _have _to. He _has_ to know. What about me? Should I tell my mom?"

She didn't know what to tell him. She knew it would only be right to tell her, but then again, Henry's mom wasn't a big fan of Natalie anyway…

"I don't know…if you think you need to…"

"Ok…well, then we need to get you a doctor's appointment as soon as possible."

"God, Henry, I can't have my parents set an appointment for me when I'm pregnant! That's just…weird…"

He rolled his eyes at her. She was being particularly stubborn today, which he knew was from the hormones. "Ok. _I'll_ set it up. I'm eighteen anyway. It's ok if I go, right? You know, I wanna make sure everything's alright with the kid and stuff…"

She nodded indifferently. She knew he would've wanted to tag along. He was really trying to take control of things, like a father should.

" Oh, shit…." He thought out loud. "I'm gonna be a father…"

"And I'm gonna be a mother…" She responded, her head soon resting on his shoulder.

"You'll be a wonderful mother. I can tell."

"And you'll make a good father, too."

He kissed her cheek lightly and whispered, "I love you, Natalie. And I love our baby. More than anything."

She smiled for a little while. She finally got her news over and done with and he was staying with her. He was going to raise their child with her. She had nothing to worry about….

* * *

Henry came home with Natalie that day. They were in her room supposedly 'studying.'

"Henry. The book is on the floor. Not on me." She commented, catching him staring at her.

"Wow….now that I think of it, this is probably one of the last times I'll see you as a skinny little thing…"

She looked about ready to smack him. "Don't remind me."

"25-30 pounds…"

She grabbed the pillow off her bed and hit him, giggling. "Shut up, you asshole…"

He grasped her wrist and tugged her down towards him, laughing as well. She fell on top of him as he leaned forward to kiss her. She accepted it this time and played along, her hands running through his hair as he ran his hands down her back.

They would've kept going but they were soon startled by the sound of the front door slamming shut downstairs.

All they heard was a loud shout.

"NATALIE OLIVIA GOODMAN, GET DOWN HERE THIS INSTANT!"

**A/N: DUHN DUHN DUHN! What will happen next? Who was the person yelling? (Well….if you use common sense, you can answer that yourself…lol)**

**More to come!**

**Reviews?**


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: HERE YOU GO! This one's LOOONNGG! 4 pages in a Word document…SECOND LONGEST CHAPTER!**

**Thanks to ElianaMargalit and TakeMeTakeMeILoveYou for reviewing! Here's the next chapter like I promised!**

**I'm feeling better! YAY! And I learned today that I'm a BEAST at volleyball…haha…I get so into it…**

***Sigh* I have "Whispering" from Spring Awakening in my head…I've been into that soundtrack lately…**

**So, please enjoy this chapter and REVIEW! PLEASE REVIEW!**

**Disclaimer: Guess what? Huh? You know what? Guess what? I don't own N2N!**

Natalie froze in place, still on top of Henry. The voice belonged to none other than her father. Her heart began to flutter as she slowly got up from the floor, brushing herself off.

"I'll be back…" she whispered to Henry, who was slightly confused. "Hopefully.."

She quietly walked out of her room and downstairs into the living room where Dan was waiting for her angrily. She reluctantly sat down on the couch preparing herself for a lecture.

"Natalie…"

"What?"

He crossed his arms angrily and said in a strict tone, "Your mother called me today."

She froze yet again. She knew what this was about. "She said she wouldn't…." she muttered to herself.

"She said that you're…pregnant…"

She didn't know what to say. She didn't want to admit that she was pregnant, he would've killed her. But if she kept quiet…She didn't say a word.

"Are you pregnant?"

She still remained silent, her eyes tearing up again.

"Natalie, answer me!"

"Yes…"

He just stopped for a minute. "God, Natalie…You're only seventeen!"

"I'm sorry…." she sniffled. _Can't I just tell someone without bursting into tears?_

He shook his head in disbelief and fell into the recliner across from the couch, his head in his hands. "I thought you knew better than this…"

"What? You think I _wanted_ this to happen?!"

"No, that's not what I meant…"

"That's _exactly_ what you meant!"

He brought his head up to look at her. "Nat, I don't want you to make the same mistake I did."

"And what was that? Having me?"

"Natalie!"

"Well, it's true! It's not like either of you cared about me being born anyway…"

She threw him an angry glare and then looked down at her feet, afraid of what he would say next.

"I don't want you to be in that position. I don't want you to have to worry about raising a child."

"Well, it's my mess. I'll take the punishment for it."

"You have _no_ idea what it's like to be a young parent, Natalie…It's the hardest thing you'll ever have to do…And alone…"

She shook her head, protesting every word her father had just said. "No. Henry said he'd help me. He'll raise it with me."

Her father sighed. "It's his baby, isn't it?"

She nodded, a bit shamefully. She felt a little relieved now that her father knew. But she was afraid now. How would she raise this baby with Henry? They were both still in school and they both planned to go to college. They wouldn't have the ability to raise a child and go to school at the same time.

"Nat…"

"Well, I'm sorry that I'm not perfect, Dad…"

"It's not that I want you to be perfect, it's that I want you to understand that this is harder than it sounds."

"I understand."

"No. You don't."

She had to restrain herself from yelling at him again. "Yes. I do. I know what's gonna happen. I know what I have to do."

"You know nothing of raising a child, Natalie. You don't know what you're getting yourself into."

"Yes! I do! I'm gonna have my baby and I'm gonna raise and then I'll get the hell out of your life, 'cause God knows I'm only a nuisance to you…"

Her face began to flush as she angrily got up from the couch and headed towards the stairs. To her growing annoyance, he ran up to her and grabbed her arm, holding her still for a moment.

"Nat, you're not a nuisance. Don't think like that. You're my daughter. You know I love you."

Without saying a word, she pulled her arm from his grasp and ran upstairs, practically sobbing. She darted into her room, slamming the door shut, soon finding herself comfortably nestled in Henry's arms once again.

* * *

Natalie groggily woke up the next morning. Henry had left the night before, but for some reason, she didn't feel as lonely as she had before. She looked at the clock next to her bed. _11:30.…fuck…_

It was a Saturday morning. She never slept in that late, except for that small period of time when she had a bout with drug abuse. But she was over that now. She had to be. For the baby's sake.

She was planning to visit her mother again, this time bringing Henry along, just in case. Afterwards, the two of them had set up their first doctor's appointment. She remembered what Henry was saying last night.

"_I'll pick you up at 12, ok?"_

"Shit…" she mumbled to herself. She quickly jumped out of bed but stopped quickly as she felt the almost familiar churning in her stomach. _Please don't let me puke today…I can't puke today…_She shook the feeling off and got ready as fast as she could. And within a few short minutes, Henry had arrived to pick her up.

The car ride was pretty much silent except for their usual exchanges of 'hey' and 'what's up?' She was a bit worried at the silence. Henry was never this quiet unless something was bothering him. She wanted to ask him what was wrong, wondering if it was about her 'situation.' But she didn't say a word, afraid to break the awkward tension.

They parked outside of Diana's building and quietly made their way inside. She didn't like this silence, it scared her. So as they entered the tiny, yet familiar elevator, she decided to confront him.

"Hey," she asked quietly, tapping his shoulder. "Are you ok?"

His eyes traveled from his feet to her own brown eyes that were staring at him, slightly concerned. "I-I'm fine."

"No, really. You're acting…weird."

"What?"

"You know, like, _concerning_ weird." She said with a smirk, quoting him almost perfectly.

"Shut up…I'm just…nervous."

"Nervous? About what?"

He sighed, giving in to her questioning. Plus, who could say no the those _eyes?_ "You know, this whole…pregnancy thing…"

"I know…I'm nervous too…But hey. At least we're not doing this on our own."

He threw her a challenging smirk. "You're quite the optimist today…"

"Well, I kinda have to be. It was either that or strangle my mother. Oh, and by the way, if I try to kill her, will you please restrain me?"

His eyes rolled at her, a small smile on his face now. They had reached the right floor and walked out quickly as she showed him to her mother's room. It took most of her strength not to pound the door down as they arrived. And quickly, the door flew open to reveal Diana, a huge smile on her face. It quickly wiped away as she saw Natalie's angry face staring back at her.

"Oh…..You're pissed at me, aren't you?"

"Mom…" Natalie groaned through her teeth. "I am _more_ than pissed…"

"Well, I knew you weren't gonna tell him yourself…So I made it easier on your part."

"Yeah, and Henry was right there to whole time. Thanks for embarrassing me yet again…"

Diana gave a somewhat confused look over at Henry, who half-smiled and waved weakly.

"Oh. Hi, Henry."

He looked around somewhat awkwardly, not knowing if Natalie was going to kill him or not for talking to her mother. "Hi, Miz Goodman….nice to see you again…"

"You too."

"Um, I'm still here, you know," Natalie interrupted, bringing both of their focuses back.

"Sorry, Nat…" Henry mock apologized, giving her an innocent, but totally fake, smirk.

She rolled her eyes at him and just slouched against the wall. The three of them stood there in awkward silence for minutes, which, to Natalie, felt like hours. She didn't want this tension back. _Well, I guess there's no escaping it…_she thought to herself.

Finally breaking the silence, Diana just quietly muttered, "So…you two wanna come in? I was just about ready to make some lunch and you're eating for two now, Nat."

"No, that's fine." Natalie replied all too quickly. "We have to go anyway. We have an appointment in like forty minutes."

Her mother looked a little hurt but shrugged anyway. "Alright, suit yourself. Bye then. Good luck."

"Yeah…bye, Mom."

Natalie began to walk towards the elevator once again, while Diana stopped Henry in the doorway.

"Just a word of advice," she whispered to him. "Don't take her too seriously. She'll be all looped up and bitchier than normal."

"Oh, great…" He laughed. "Just what I need. An even _bitchier_ girlfriend…"

She laughed as well as she went to hug him. He was practically family to her. "It was nice to see you again. Tell her to call me later."

"Henry!" Natalie cried from a few doors down, wondering why he was taking so long. "We're gonna be late!"

"Will do, Miz Goodman." He said quickly to Diana as he rushed over to meet Natalie at the elevator.

"What the hell took you so long?" She asked a bit curiously.

"Nothing…come on, we'll be late…"

And the two ran into the elevator as headed off to the appointment.

**A/N: Ehh….not a good ending…but oh well! More to come in the NEAR FUTURE!**

**Reviews, anyone?**


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: HAHAHA! CHAPTER 8!!!!! This one's my favorite so far! Ok, you know how when you ask to go to the bathroom in class right after lunch and the teacher's like, 'No! You should've gone at lunch.' and then you go, 'But I didn't have to go then…'**

**That makes an appearance here…lol…Oh and the symptoms listed I got from WebMD…haha…so sorry if they're off….Oh,**

**Bold wording in the story is text messages**

**REVIEW PLEASE!**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Next to Normal! WHOO! It's going on TOUR!**

The appointment was nothing special. They filled out some paperwork, with the stupidest questions, (ex: Are you sexually active? To which Natalie replied, _No. I just happened to get pregnant one day…=/)_, they waited forty minutes past their scheduled time for the doctor to arrive, another twenty minutes getting tests done, and were just given some basic pamphlets on what was to come.

"Um…eew…" Henry muttered almost to himself, reading over some of the pamphlets, waiting for some results.

"What?"

He smirked and read it out loud in a first grade teacher kind of voice. "'If you are reading this pamphlet, then you are about to enter the life changing experience known as pregnancy.' Well….that's not entirely true…They should really consider who reads these things…" She rolled her eyes, trying to cover up that fact that she was actually laughing at him. "'During the next nine months you will begin to see many changes going on with your body.' Eeew…it's like a second puberty…"

"Yeah, only this time I'll be a raging hormonal bitch."

"Not like you weren't before…"

She could only glare at him. She knew he was just joking, but for some reason, she was getting angry with him. And she had no idea why. He always joked around with her and she never thought anything of it until now.

"Nat?" He asked after she didn't respond for a few minutes. "You ok?"  
"I'm fine…"

"You don't seem fine."

"I'm fine, Henry, ok?! God, just leave me alone!"

She turned away from him hastily, reading a few pamphlets herself. He knew that she didn't mean what she said. He knew she wanted him there. It would pass and she'd be smiling like nothing ever happened. He figured that all there was to do was wait.

* * *

The results had come back rather quickly. She learned that she was already a whole month into her pregnancy and that her body did a good job of hiding the symptoms for the first few weeks. _If only it would stay like that,_ she thought sarcastically. But as soon as the appointment ended, Henry drove her straight home where her father was eagerly awaiting information. She told him the news and gave him a few pamphlets before retreating back into her room, looking at a few of them herself.

* * *

_Here are just a few examples of some changes that you will notice during your first trimester of pregnancy._

_-Morning Sickness_

The alarm rang louder than usual that next Monday morning as Natalie got up for school yet again. _Hmmm…I wonder if they have maternity leave for students?_ She practically fell back onto her bed, feeling light-headed and nauseous. She hated Monday mornings to begin with, but throw in the nausea factor and she wanted to just call it quits. Recently she'd been able to hold it down. But for some reason, today felt like a puking day.

The familiar churning began once again as she slowly stood up from the edge of the bed. She slouched her way down the stairs and into the kitchen, where her father sat with the newspaper, his usual cup of coffee in his hands.

"Hey," she mumbled wearily, sitting down at the table.

"Hey. How are you feeling?"

"Gross. Tired. Nauseous."

He gave her a small smirk, recognizing all she was talking about. "Drink some water. It'll help."

She shrugged and got up to grab herself a glass of water before heading toward the stairs yet again to go up to her room. "Thanks, Dad."

_- Breast Tenderness_

Dan decided to drive her to school, considering the fact that she was about to fall asleep at any given moment. She quickly darted out of the car, pretending that she wasn't a senior in high school who just had their parents drive them to school. The hallways were busy as usual as she made her way to her locker.

"Hey!"

She froze in place, knowing that the obnoxious, perky voice belonged to none other than Rosie, who was running up to her.

"Natalie! I have to tell you something!"

"Um…ok…"

"Well, me and Damian are officially going out now! Isn't that great? But anyway, there's this party that one of the guys on the team is holding tomorrow night. Why don't you and Henry join us? It'll be fun!"

Natalie looked around uneasily. _How the hell am I supposed to say this?_ "Um, well…I kind of…can't…"

"Why not?"

"'Cause it's a, um, school night…" _Huh, well, that's true anyway…_

"Well, yeah, but come on! Don't leave me hanging. I've never had a boyfriend before him, so I'm a little nervous. So, please? For me?"

She looked at her friend's pleading sad face and gave in. "Fine. We'll go."

"Really? Thanks…" Rosie quickly hugged her in gratitude.

"Oww…" Natalie muttered under her breath as she was dragged into what seemed like the hug of death.

Rosie pulled back and walked away, waving. Natalie, slightly relieved, continued down to her locker in pain. And who was there waiting for her? Henry.

"Hey…um…what happened to you?" He asked noticing her wincing as stupid Freshmen would run into her.

"Pregnancy, that's what happened." She went to undo her lock. "Seriously, my boobs feel like they've been crushed by a monster truck…"

He couldn't help but to snicker a little. "Wow…._interesting_ analogy there…And I'm sorry you're in pain."

"Thanks. I still feel like shit though."

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer, kissing her gently. "You feel better now?"

She threw him a stunning smile, one that he hadn't seen in ages. "Yeah. I'm feeling, like, 50% less crappy now."

"Well, that's always good."

She threw him the smile again and brought her lips to his

_-Frequent Urination, Fatigue, and Heart Burn_

Classes never seemed so long like they did that whole day. She could never sit still. Something was always bothering her. Thanks to her raging hormones, the heartburn she got almost everyday was keeping her from concentrating. And even when she was, she was always leaving class to go to the bathroom. Her mother had told her over the phone that there was a ton of pressure on her bladder causing her to have to go. A lot.

Her teachers weren't fond of this new, restless Natalie. Especially the class after lunch. She had History with Henry. They were working on some little projects in class when all of the sudden, she felt that pang.

"Oh, crap…" She muttered, getting up from her desk and over to the teacher.

"Um, can I go to the bathroom?"

The teacher glared at her nastily and replied, "No. You just had lunch. You should've went then."

"But I didn't have to go then. I have to go now."

"Well, I'm sorry your bladder is out of control."

_Me too, _she thought all too ironically. "Can I just go? Or would you prefer that I just do it in here?" Her voice began to get louder as a few students were now watching.

The teacher gave her another angry glare. "Natalie, this is getting out of hand."

"I have to pee! Why can't I just go and pee and come back?!"

"That's it. Detention after school." He sighed and got out a pink slip for her. She rolled her eyes and angrily accepted it.

"Can I still go to the bathroom?"

"Just go…" The teacher sighed, dejectedly.

* * *

It was about 5:00 in the evening when she finally came home from school. She tried to sneak in, but her father caught her right away.

"Nat? Why are you home so late?"

_Fuck…_ "Um…I had detention…?"

He sighed and asked, "Why?"

"The fucking asshole they have teaching History wouldn't let me pee."

"And you made a scene?"

She stared down at her feet, embarrassed at how much she was becoming like her mother. "Maybe…"

"Well, does he know you're pregnant?"

"No! I'm not gonna tell him! Then he'll tell and they'll tell and before you know it, everyone'll know!"

Dan rolled his eyes at her. "Everyone's gonna know anyway."

"But I don't _want_ them to know. That's the point." She angrily groaned and ran off to her room. She still hadn't asked Henry about the party yet. She knew how he'd react too…

So she texted him.

**Hey…Rosie invited us to a party tomorrow…wanna go?**

It took him a minute to respond. **Um, and watch you get drunk? Uh, no thanks.**

**C'mon, Henry, I'm over that. And I'm pregnant. I can't drink anyway.**

**And who's to say that that's gonna keep you from doing it anyway?**

**I'm not that stupid girl I was, ok? I've changed.**

**That's what you said last time. **

She didn't know how to respond to that. He was bringing it up again. Their supposed first time. When the both of them got so drunk they could hardly recall the night before.

**Just come with me. For fifteen minutes. That's it. That's how long we'll be there. And if I screw up, I promise I won't drag you to another party again.**

He took a long pause in his response. **Ok, fine. You win. See you tomorrow.**

**Thanks! ;D**

**Ok. Love you.**

**Love you too.**

She threw her phone down and smirked. What was one party gonna do?

**A/N: duhn duhn duhn! What's gonna happen at the party? Well, don't' ask me! I haven't written it yet and this part's new material! So…WHOO!**

**Reviews?**


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N: Haha! Another chapter! This is gonna be a long fic I can tell…But anyway, enjoy! Thanks to oreoprincess0401 for the idea! You get to see some more Rosie apart from the perky annoying side. And Damian makes his first appearance.**

**I just realized that back in chapter like 2 I mentioned Mark's daughter…I don't think she'll be included I this story anymore, just to let you know!**

**REVIEW PLEASE!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Next to Normal! YAY!**

The party was about to begin. Natalie's focus wouldn't leave her cell phone, just waiting for Henry to call. _Why did I agree to drive with him? He's not gonna-_

And within seconds, his beat up little car had made its way up the driveway. She rolled her eyes, a bit annoyed with his tardiness, and made her way out to join him. She wore a light, black dress that flowed around her when she walked. It was the best at covering up the little bit of swelling that was already occurring.

She quickly got into the car as the two exchanged their normal greetings and drove off. It was silent again. And this time she knew why. He was afraid she would relapse. He feared that she would endanger not just her own life but the life of their child as well. The silence remained until the little car finally parked down the street.

"Look, Natalie-" he began until she quickly cut him off.

"No. I don't wanna hear it, ok? I'm not gonna drink, I'm not doing any drugs, I'm just here."

"But, Nat-!"

Rolling her eyes at him, she tugged on his shirt, pulling him close enough so she could kiss him. She pulled away and whispered, "I promise…"

Reluctantly he agreed. "Fine. Let's go."

* * *

The party was wild. Of course, however, she'd seen wilder. All around people were talking, drinking, making sure they didn't walk in on some make-out session. Natalie's eyes scanned the crowd of people for Rosie and her boyfriend. She couldn't find them anywhere.

"Natalie!"

She turned around at the sound of her voice to find Rosie making her way over to her, her boyfriend, Damian, trailing behind.

"I'm so glad you guys came!" Rosie shouted over the loud music.

"Yeah…trust me. Getting here was a task in itself…"

"Oh! Hey, hold on…" She turned to grab Damian who was talking to one of the guys from the football team. "Natalie, this is Damian. Damian, this is my friend Natalie."

He shook her hand slightly as she gave him a look somewhere between confusion and disgust.

"I think I've seen you around before…" he wondered out loud. "You're the one who's always in the practice room, right?"

"Yeah…" she mumbled uncomfortably. "That's me."

"You're really good, you know. We hear you in there a lot."

_Oh, great. Just exactly how many people are stalking me when I play?_ "Thanks, I guess."

They three of them just stared around awkwardly before Natalie just shrugged, "Um…I've kind of gotta find my boyfriend…I'll be right back…"

And with that, she darted away from the group and found herself maneuvering through the crowd to find Henry. He wasn't too hard to miss either. He was the one sitting alone, waiting for her to come back.

"Hey," She smiled, finally getting over to him.

"Hey….did you find her?"

"Yeah…and apparently I'm more popular than I thought."

"What?" he said with a laugh.

"Long story…But seriously, this party sucks. I mean, _really_."

"And only you would know that."

She shrugged and threw him a challenging smirk as she went to walk away. But as soon as she turned around she found Rosie standing behind her, tapping her shoulder lightly.

"Oh, you found him, huh?"

"Yeah…so…what's up? Where's Damian?"

"He's…off somewhere…God, I need your help."

"Why?"

She sighed and miserably stated, "I don't know…I think he's cheating on me…He won't leave Taylor alone….You know, the girl from the band?"

Natalie didn't know what to say. She knew that Damian probably wasn't cheating on her, but she didn't want to assume. She knew she should be comforting.

"Ouch…well, he's an asshole if he thinks that girl is better than you."

"Really?"

"Of course."

Rosie threw her one of her infamous bright smiles. "Thanks. I'm gonna go get a drink…maybe it'll help…You want me to get you something?"

Natalie glanced over at Henry who was watching intensely. "Uh, no. I-I don't drink…"

"You sure? I mean it's not gonna, like, kill you…"

"No. I'm sure. I stopped drinking."

"Why?"

_Oh, shit…should I tell her or not?_ "Um, well…."

"Was it something about your mother?"

"What?!" Natalie shouted a bit too defensively. "No, you idiot…I'm PREGNANT!"

_Oh, no….._

Rosie's hand clapped over her mouth immediately. "Omigod…" she mutter, a bit muffled, completely wide-eyed. She couldn't do anything else but to just stare at her friend.

Natalie on the other hand was overly angry with herself. _How could I do that? WHY did I do that? God…I feel so stupid. _She was completely wordless.

"Natalie….Oh, God….I'm _so_ sorry…I didn't know…"

But she cut her friend off, mid-sentence, running over to Henry, tears pouring down her face. He didn't hear the end of the conversation, but scooped her into his arms anyway, rubbing her back, trying to quiet her.

"Hey…shhh…what happened?"

"I told her," she sobbed, feeling the warmth of his embrace surround her. "Henry, I told her…"

He stroked her back soothingly, whispering, "We should go…"

She nodded in agreement and before long the two of the left the party. Rosie still stood in the exact spot, confused and hurt, as she watched her friends dart out of the room. She felt a familiar hand upon her shoulder. She turned around only to find that it was Damian.

"Hey…what happened? Why'd they leave?"

She only barely mumbled, "She's pregnant…."

* * *

Natalie arrived at school the next day only to find that the usual classified, social environment seemed a lot more hostile. She received glares as she walked down the hallway from almost every one of her classmates. She saw a few of them whispering things to each other as she walked past them. She finally reached her locker, still confused by everyone's actions. As she grabbed her books, she could overhear the conversation that the two girls next to her were having.

"Did you hear?" the first one asked.

"About what?" The second replied.

"_Her._" The girl jeered towards Natalie.

"What about her?"

"I heard she's pregnant…"

_WHAT?!?!?!?!_ Natalie thought to herself. _How do they know?! How do they fucking know?!?!_

"Really? I mean, she was in my History class last year. She never seemed like the kind to sleep around…"

"That's what she wants you to think. She's just a whore…"

The second girl shrugged, "I dunno…she seems too…innocent…"

"But I mean really, Taylor told me. And she heard it straight from Damian Rodriguez."

"And where did he hear it?"

"His stupid girlfriend. I guess she's her 'friend.' Or at least, she pretends to be…" The first girl shut her locker door. "I guess she admitted it last night at Jason's party…"

The two girls began to walk away as their voices got fainter. She fell back upon the door of the locker next to her and sighed, defeated. _Why is this happening to me? Why me?_

She got the rest of her books and slammed her locker shut, hoping to avoid everyone in her way.

"Natalie?"

She didn't even have to turn around to tell that Rosie was behind her. She kept on walking.

"What's wrong?"

"You told _everyone._ _Everyone_ knows!"

As she began to walk away, Rosie protested, "No! I only told Damian, I swear!"

"You weren't supposed to tell _anyone!_ I wanted it to be a secret…Now everyone hates me, thanks to you!"

Rosie couldn't contain herself. But she screamed it anyway. "You're acting like such a bitch!"

"That's 'cause I _am_ a bitch! A stupid, fat hormonal bitch!"

And with that, Natalie took her initiative and stormed off angrily, leaving Rosie there alone.

**A/N: Well, well, well….tension! What's gonna happen next?**

**Reviews?**


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N: Ok, don't hurt me…This is like the time lapse chapter…rushing through like three months…Again, some more symptoms from WebMD…lol…This ones' cute though! The ending is adorable and YES! Henry makes EVERYTHING better!**

**I want a Henry…**

**Review Please! REVIEW!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own N2N! *Goes to chase after Henry***

It seemed to be the longest school day of Natalie's life. Everywhere she went, people would glare and talk among themselves. No one would look at her the same. They all had looks of confusion, disgust, and shock plastered on their faces. She wanted to just disappear into thin air and never come back.

By the time she had reached her English class, the last class of the day, she was completely shutting everyone out, something she never did. And by everyone, she meant _almost _everyone. Everyone but Henry.

"Nat? Are you ok?" He asked after class ended, slightly concerned at her unusual quietness.

All she could do was shake her head in disagreement, nonverbally telling him no. She wasn't ok.

"What's wrong?" He placed his hand gently on her cheek as her head began to lower, staring at her feet. He soon began to stroke it softly, bringing his fingers underneath her chin, forcing her to look up at him.

"You mean…" She mumbled quietly. "You don't know?"

"What don't I know?"

And before long, Rosie had left her seat in the row across from Natalie, neither of them even daring to look at one another.

"She told everyone. _Every_ fucking person here knows…" She managed to raise her voice a bit to get Rosie to hear her.

"They do?" Henry looked around the room and finally realized what all the glares meant. "Oh, Nat, I'm sorry…"

Her face reddened with a mix between anger and embarrassment as he leaned forward to pull her into a quick but comforting embrace. She knew resisting it wouldn't work. She knew that she wanted him to comfort her. Her arms were soon around him as well, never wanting him to let go.

She hid her face quickly in the crook of his neck. As she cried, she could just smell the familiar scent that followed him around. Something between a sweetness and a smoky scent. She remembered when they were first going out how she would freak out about the fact that her boyfriend smelled like smoke all the time, terrified that someone would just become suspicious one day. But as they went on, she got used to the smell, a lot less potent lately. She didn't care if he smoked or not, she still loved him. And now his arms were loosening around her body as she sighed.

"So how are you feeling?" He asked, curious for an answer.

"Like fucking shit…"

"I'm sorry…" He grabbed her hand and kissed it gently. "Do you want me to take you home?"

"Yeah…"

He kissed her again and whispered, "Ok. C'mon, let's go…"

* * *

About two months had passed. She had gotten used to the same old routine: Wake up, go to school, ignore the glares, focus on class, avoid Rosie at all costs, then pour heart out to Henry, let him do his comforting, go home, sleep, repeat.

She was beginning to feel a bit better rather than disgusting and shitty. According to what she remembered, by now she was already three months completely in, just starting the fourth. Her sore breasts and the morning sickness had gone. Now she was on to the second trimester. She grabbed the handy dandy pamphlet and read…

* * *

_After the first trimester ends, the pregnancy goes straight into the second one. Most women report that the second trimester is the easiest and most comfortable of the three. But once again, many changes are still happening as your baby develops._

_-Backache_

The alarm decided to scream into Natalie's ears that morning. She covered them with her pillow before quickly putting the alarm on snooze, falling back onto her bed. But the alarm wouldn't give up. It rang once again. She figured it would be easier to get up anyway as she angrily shut the alarm off.

She sat on the edge of her bed and jus stretched, but quickly stopped and winced. _Oh my God…_she thought. _My back KILLS._ She grabbed the pamphlet that sat next to her bed, remembering reading about this. _Oh my God! My back hurts 'cause I'm fat! How fat am I?!_

She never seemed to notice that she was gaining so much wait that it actually put pressure on her back. She looked over at the clock. _Damn…_

She was going shopping with her mother for clothes that actually fit her. She had to admit that she was a bit excited. She'd never gone shopping with her mother before. Mind you, she'd never really been shopping with anyone before. So as soon as she heard her mother's car pull up in the driveway, she grabbed her stuff and ran out the door.

_-Breast Enlargement and Weight Gain_

Diana seemed to be pretty chatty in the car, sort of still holding onto the whole mother/daughter thing.

"So does anyone at school know?" she asked somewhat curiously.

Natalie sort of blushed and replied quietly, "If by anyone you mean _every_one, then yes. People at school know."

"Aww, honey, I'm sorry…that's gotta be terrible…"

"Terrible doesn't even cover it…"

She sighed deeply and looked out the window for the remainder of the car ride. And before long they had arrived at the mall and were soon walking around looking for some kind of clothing store. They stumbled across a few and went in to try stuff on.

Nothing fit.

"Mom…" Natalie whined from the dressing room.

"What?"

"I can't get this off…"

"What do you mean?"

She sighed and shouted, "It's, like, stuck…"

She heard her mother make her way over to the dressing room as Natalie unlocked the door for her to get in. She tried to tug at the outfit, but it was stuck…in only one area.

"Holy crap, Nat!" Diana shouted bursting into giggles.

"What?!"

"Your breasts are HUGE!"

Natalie blushed a deep, dark red and sank into the corner of the dressing room, hoping no one around her heard the comment…even though she knew they all did. _Maybe this is why we never went shopping…_

"Mooooom…."

"What? It's only natural. You see, your body's building up-!"

"Mom! Stop!"

She shrugged and finally got the top of the outfit to move. She eventually slid it down to her legs and stepped out of it. Shaking her head in embarrassment, Natalie went to throw on her normal clothing.

"You know…" Diana started with an evil smirk. "I bet Henry's gonna be a lot happier to see you now next time you see him…"

"MOM!!" She blushed yet again. "Oh my God! Why would you even think of that?!"

"Well, I dunno…I mean, you should've seen your father when I was pregnant with your brother…"

Natalie completely froze and the blushed the deepest red ever, feeling slightly sick to her stomach. "Mother…I did _NOT_ need to know that…"

Her mother just shrugged as Natalie walked away in disgust.

* * *

Another month passed…Natalie was getting big as ever, now entering her fifth month. Her and Henry had another appointment that day and were on their way over. They both were in his car, just talking, blasting the radio. A picture-perfect moment…Until she was greeted by a slight jolt coming from her ever-growing belly.

Her hand flew over to where she had felt it. It came again. She tried to remember what the pamphlet said. The most exciting part of the second trimester.

_-Quickening_

A huge smile spread across her face, a dazzling one. Her hand was glued to her stomach. As they hit a red light, Henry looked over at her, somewhat confused about why she was smiling.

"What are you doing?" He asked her.

But instead of answering him, she grabbed his hand and placed it where hers had been. She smiled again and whispered, "It's moving…"

He couldn't help but to break out into a smile as well. He looked down at her bulging belly and then up at her sparkling eyes. He was speechless. He didn't know what to do. This was his child. _Their_ child.

"Natalie…" He leaned towards her and kissed her passionately, causing her to giggled uncontrollably. They would've continued all day if it weren't for that car that was beeping behind them, telling them to go. Henry rolled his eyes and his window and stuck his middle finger out to the other driver.

* * *

Everything was going fine. Both Natalie and the baby were healthy. She had gained just enough weight, not too much, not too little. She had moved up a bra size, which fit her a lot more comfortably than the old tiny ones she used to wear.

She was getting an ultrasound. _The_ ultrasound, too. They wanted to know the sex of the baby and this was the test that would tell them. As the doctor searched around, she finally got a good view of the baby.

"You see?" She said, pointing out an area of the fuzzy picture. "It's a girl."

Natalie smiled yet again. She looked up at the ultrasound image. She could make out the baby's little hands and feet, it's head. At the moment, the little thing was sucking it thumb, an awe-striking moment. She looked over at Henry, who was holding her hand, and smiled.

"It's a girl."

**A/N: Awww…adorable, but confusing…what did you think? GACK! HEARTBURN!**

**Reviews?**


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N: Ok peeps, this chapter is rated M just to be safe…A lot of excessive swearing and some, um, **_**suggestive **_**content…lol…But other than that, enjoy!**

**I began to write this as a Christmas chapter but then I realized that according to my timeline, it would be around February, so that didn't work out. SO here's what I got instead. REVIEW!**

**P.S. YAYAYAYAYAYYAY! Dr. Fine is now officially on the FFnet character list! Thanks to yours truly and ElianaMargalit who gave me the idea via review one day. So GO DR FINE!**

**PPS: Oops…If you were planning to read THE GREAT GATSBY, sorry…SPOILER ALERT!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own N2N….I know. Surprising, isn't it?**

As soon as they had finished up at the doctor's, Henry and Natalie began to head back to her house. It had started to snow outside, spring coming closer and closer. She never realized how beautiful the snow was until now, still overly ecstatic from the ultrasound. Her hands rested on her belly where her future baby was.

"You know, we still need a name…" she piped up, dreamily staring out the window.

He looked over at her, a bit surprised by her uncharacteristic optimistic attitude. _Probably the hormones again…_he thought to himself. "Now?"

"Well, soon…I mean, I want her to have a name that means something. Not just something stupid."

"True…so what have you got in mind?"

"I have no clue…"

He chuckled a little as they pulled into her driveway, quickly getting out of the car and rushing into the house. And once again, Natalie was in one of her preppy modes.

"Dad! You'll never believe-! What the _hell_ are you doing?"

She walked in the room only to find her father struggling to take down some super old Christmas decorations.

He barely glanced at her before shouting, "Not now, Nat. Is Henry here?"

"Yeah…"

"Can you ask him to help me?"

She looked a little confused as she responded, "_I _can help you, you know."

"You're pregnant," he added matter-of-factly.

"So? That doesn't mean I'm incapable." She stopped as soon as she saw the angry glare he shot her. "So what's this shit for anyway? You always leave everything up 'til, like, Easter…"

"You know that family reunion thing we never go to?"

"Yeah…so…?"

"Well, guess where it is this year."

It didn't even take her a moment to catch her father's drift. "_Here?!_ Dad, we _can't_! I'm pregnant!"

"So? That doesn't mean you're incapable…" He retorted with a smirk.

She rolled her eyes and groaned, "I'll go get Henry…"

* * *

It took them about an hour to get everything up. Natalie sat in the kitchen and watched the two of them as they took down countless wreaths and lights. They were now getting to the giant tree that was in the corner of the room. She watched them struggle to lift it up and get it off the stand. She saw Henry suddenly lose his footing as the tree began to slip away from them. She darted over and grabbed it herself helping the two to safely secure it on the ground.

"See?" She jeered with confidence at her father. "I'm perfectly-!" but she had to stop as a sudden tense pain ran through her leg. _Fucking leg cramps!_ she thought angrily, almost falling backwards.

"Go sit down. No more of this for you." Dan had scolded, helping her over to the couch, where Henry had taken a seat. He made sure she fell gently onto the couch, but oddly enough, she landed in his lap instead. She giggled and looked up at her father, signaling him to leave the room.

"You ok?" Henry asked wrapping his arms around her, securing her in that one place.

"Yeah…It just hurts…"

She bent down to massage her sore calf, hoping to relieve the pain. She soon felt his hand grab hers and pull it away from her leg.

"I'll do it. You just lay down."

She tried to protest but she did what he told her to do anyway and she went to lay down, laying her legs across his lap. His hands found themselves immediately glued to her leg as he started to soothingly rub it up and down. The pain was decreasing fast but she didn't want to tell him that. Her cold skin practically melted as his warm hands made contact with it.

She remembered how she got in this predicament in the first place. She remembered the way he touched her, how much she loved to be so close to him…She gave him a sly smirk and he right away knew what it meant. His hands began to travel up her leg, finding themselves resting on her thigh as she giggled mischievously. He leaned in to kiss her, bringing his free hand up to her torso. He brushed it lightly against her chest as his other hand moved further up, causing her to emit a moan of pleasure.

"I love you..." she whispered, going in to kiss him back.. As soon as she was an inch away from him, she was startled by a sudden shout.

"Natalie?"

"DAD!"

She blushed a deep red as Henry practically jumped off of her. She glared at her father, who was standing in the doorway, looking somewhat concerned.

"Do I want to know?"

"What the fuck do you want?!"

"Language, Nat…"

"WHAT DO YOU WANT?!"

He gave her a silent glare that seemed to stare into her eyes. "Your mother's on the phone. She wants to talk to you."

She groaned and got up from the couch, walking over to the phone, leaving Henry alone with her father in a silent awkwardness. She grabbed the phone and answered.

"Hello?"

"Oh, hey, Nat! How'd it go?" Her mother chimed happily.

"Well…" She couldn't help but blush. "Oh. You mean the ultrasound?"

"Um, yeah. What else would I be talking about?"

"Nothing! Nothing! It went well…I'm doing good, the baby's doing good, it's a girl."

Diana let out a very audible gasp. "Aww! It's a girl? I'm so happy for you!"

"Thanks…We still need a name…"

"That's the hard part, huh?"

"Mmmhmm…" She looked over at the clock on the kitchen wall. "Hey, Mom, I gotta go. I'll talk to you later."

"Ok. Good luck! Bye!"

"Bye…" And she hung up the phone. She made her way back over to the living room where her father and Henry were still both in perfect silence. She went to grab Henry's hand and drag him to the front door. He was still silent until the were underneath the doorway. He looked up at the decorations and smiled.

"You missed one," she interjected.

"Yeah…Mistletoe…"

She threw him a huge smile and gently pressed her lips against his. They were soon interrupted by the sound of Dan clearing his throat in a discreet manner. The couple pulled apart and said their goodbyes as he walked out the door to his car.

* * *

The next whole day was insane, which means a lot coming from the Goodman family. All the last minute preparations were being made for the annual family get-together. Natalie spent the day cleaning her room and trying to find some sort of outfit that would slim her down a bit. She did _not_ want her family to know, even though they'd find out eventually anyway. Her aunts and uncles would look down on her. Her grandmother would probably have a conniption.

So she decided on the same black dress she wore to the party that ruined her high school career. She made sure that it hid as much of the bulging as possible. _And this isn't even the half of it…._ she thought to herself, looking at how big she was getting.

Before long, it was about six in the evening and the family began pouring in. She tried her best to act positive and greet them, ignoring the awkward stares of the older members of her family. She sat on the front stairs, not wanting to talk to anyone, reading _The Great Gatsby_ for school. She was at the end at Gatsby's funeral. The only ones who showed up were Nick Caraway, the story's narrator and Gatsby's neighbor, one of his partygoers, and his father, Henry.

She smiled as her eyes flew across the name. She didn't know why, but she felt like something bad was going to happen at this party. She'd be dead, caught red-handed. And the only one at her funeral would be _her_ Henry.

She was soon brought out of her little world by the sound of a knock at the door. Since she was the only one around, she went to answer it. Standing outside was her mother's sister, Emily, and her little daughter, Lexi.

"Emily?" Natalie asked, confused at why she was there. She always called her aunt by her first name. It was just the way she was raised. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, you know…Just dropping by…Saying hello and such…Where's your father?"

"In the other room…"

"Thanks…" Emily went to walk away, but paused and looked Natalie in the eyes. "Are you ok? You don't look too good…"

"I'm fine…Don't worry about me…"

She watched her aunt trudge off in the opposite direction. She was left alone with her little cousin who was staring up at her.

"Hi, Nat!" She smiled brightly.

"Hi, Lexi…."

"I missed you! Did you miss me?"

"Yeah…a whole lot…"

The little girl's eyes widened. "_Really?!_"

"Uh-huh…"

Her cousin's little arms flew around her bulging belly, to Natalie's dismay. But she soon backed off as she sported a stunned look.

"Something's moving in your belly!"

_Oh, fuck…What do I do? Do I give in? Do I play stupid?_

"What?" _Dammit!_

The little girl gasped as her eyes widened ever more. "Are you having a baby?"

_FUCK!_ "U-um…Well,"

"You _are_ having a baby!"

"Lexi, please-!"

But Lexi didn't hear her pleas. She ran off in the direction that her mother had gone only to find Emily in the center of the room, surrounded by pretty much everyone.

The little girl tugged on the sleeve of her sweater and shouted, "Mama!"

"What, sweetheart?" Emily answered, bending down to the child's level.

"Mama, Natalie's having a baby!"

The whole room got dead silent as Natalie froze in the middle of chasing Lexi. All eyes fell upon her. She looked around and saw no friendly glance looking up at her except for Lexi.

_Shit…._

**A/N: Uh-oh…I sense some DRAMA! Gasp! I just realized that this is gonna be really long…thanks, guys, for putting up with this!**

**Reviews?**


	12. Chapter 11

**A/N: ok, this chapter's like super short…Ugh…**

**I went through two days of writer's block for this! It gets a bit confusing but it's staying true to my original plot. And guess who gets to make an appearance? Well….you'll find out…I just realized that this chapter is really dull and serious cuz Henry's not in it…Poor Henry…**

**REVIEW PLEASE!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own N2N! YAY FOR THE TOUR THOUGH!**

It was silent for another whole minute.

"_What?!" _Emily asked, almost completely blocking out her daughter's statement.

"I said Natalie's having a baby!" Lexi piped up smiling since she didn't know the seriousness of the situation.

"What does she mean?" Emily asked Natalie sternly. "She's only mistaken, right?"

Natalie was frozen. Everyone was staring at her. The glares she received from various family members didn't help either.

"U-Um…"

"You're not really pregnant, are you?" One of her older cousins asked.

"Well…"

"Yes she is!" Lexi protested. "I felt the baby!"

Again, pure silence. Natalie tried her hardest not to lash out at the little girl.

"Natalie…is it true?" Emily asked.

She knew she wanted to protest and to deny it all. But she realized that there was no more hiding it. "Yes…"

Gasps and chattering came from every corner of the room. She looked around miserably trying to find at least one single pitiful glare. The only one she could find was coming from Emily.

"You're _really_ having a baby?!" The older cousin shouted.

"But you're only seventeen!" One of her uncles protested.

"I know…but-!"

"But nothing!" Emily interrupted angrily. "You shouldn't be having sex in the first place!"

She couldn't keep it in anymore. She had to lash out at someone. _It might as well be her…_ "Well, excuse me for being in love…"

"Sex isn't love, Natalie! There's a difference!"

"It doesn't seem like you cared too much about that…"

She looked up at Emily's now-solemn face. Her boyfriend had gotten her pregnant with Lexi and left halfway through her pregnancy. She was now a single mother trying to raise an eight-year-old girl.

Natalie blushed in sorrow for bringing it up again. "I'm sorry…"

Emily just sighed. "We need to talk…."

* * *

Meanwhile, Diana sat alone in her tiny apartment, concentrating deeply on some book. She felt a little guilty not showing up for the family party. And she knew somewhere Dan's heart was wrenching as she didn't come through that familiar front door. Sometimes she didn't like being alone like this. Sometimes she wished she could've stayed with her family. _Maybe none of this would've happened_, she thought.

She just sighed and took in the quietness of the winter night.

"Mom?"

So much for quiet.

Her head shot around to the source of the bone-chilling voice that had spoken. There, standing in the shadows, was her son, Gabe.

"G-Gabe?"

"Hey, Mom…long time, no see…"

She had to turn her head away from him. She couldn't look. "No…you're not real…"

"Yes, I'm real. I'm right here."

"No, you're not! Go away!"

He sat beside her, locking eyes, assuring that she was looking at him. "What did they do to you?"

She didn't say a word. She just ignored him like he wasn't there.

"You know who I am, Mom. I'm your son. Do you remember?"

"Yes…" she answered miserably, still avoiding his eyes.

"I'm back. And I won't leave you again." He mournfully embraced his mother who was quick to accept it.

"Ok…"

He gave her a small, sly grin before getting up and wandering around the room. "So…what's our little family been up to lately?"

Diana looked around the room uncomfortably, wondering how to break the news to her son. "Well, let's just say there's been enough drama to last us a while…"

"Like what?"

"Well, your sister…"

Gabe froze in his tracks and turned to face his mother. "What did she do now?"

"She's…kind of…um, pregnant…"

"She's _pregnant?!_ That fucking asshole got her _pregnant?!"_

She nodded sheepishly as Gabe continued to rant.

"I mean, seriously? Dammit, if I could've been there I would've beaten that sorry bastard to a pulp…"

"But she loves him. You can't blame her for being in love…"

"Love is one side of the story, but I can't even fathom him touching my sister like that!"

She knew it wouldn't help, but Diana began to smile. His older brother instincts were kicking in. He was worried about her, she could tell.

"I know…it's hard to believe….But she knows what she's doing. She knows what she got herself into and she's ready."

He didn't want to hear another word. He turned away from her, his way of contemplating things. And before long his infamous sly grin reappeared.

"What?" She asked him, knowing there was something on his mind.

"I think it's about time I pay a little visit to my little sister…"

* * *

"God, Natalie, _what_ is your problem?!" Emily scolded, pulling her aside.

"My problem is that I'm stressed, I don't know what to do, and everyone looks down on me like it's _my_ fault!" Natalie was venting by now. She'd had enough. "Like I _wanted_ this to happen! I didn't want this! I never wanted this!"

She fell back against the wall I defeat. Emily gave her a look of pity as she embraced her niece and let her cry into her shoulder as she stroked her dark curly hair soothingly.

"I know…no one does…It's not your fault…"

"Yes it is…I was the one who pressured him into doing it…None of this would've happened if it weren't for me…"

"No…no, don't think like that…"

Natalie took a moment to breathe as another wave of tears hit. "But why is everyone so mad at me?"

"They're not…they're just worried…I don't want you to be like your mother and me…I want to make sure you're safe with this boy so he doesn't leave you…"

She wiped her teary eyes on her sleeve and sniffled, "Henry wouldn't leave me…He would _never_ leave me…"

"That's what I thought about my boyfriend too…"

"But he told me he wouldn't! He loves me too much…"

Emily shushed her and tightened her embrace around her. "I know…But your safety and the baby's safety come first…Now I think you should get some sleep. You've had a hard day."

She nodded and hugged her aunt yet again before running up to her room. She slammed the door shut and just fell onto her bed, crying her eyes out. She had too much for one day. She couldn't hold it in anymore and she let it out for what seemed like forever, as she began to quiet down and fall asleep…

* * *

She could hear a distant whisper, calling her name.

"_Natalie…"_

She had to admit that she was startled by the voice. At first she thought it was one of her stupid cousins playing a prank on her. But she looked around and no one was there.

"_Natalie…"_

This time she became even more alarmed at the growing voice. It seemed to belong to a young man. Her heart began to pound as she headed to the door to get out of the room. As soon as she grabbed the doorknob, she suddenly felt a cold hand grabbing hers.

"Where do you think you're going?"

She was in pure shock. She didn't know what to do so she followed her first instinct and screamed. The hand that had grabbed her dragged her away from the door while the other hand was covering her mouth. She was forcibly turned around to face the intruder.

It was a boy maybe a year or two older than herself. He gave her a calm, peaceful stare as if to say 'it's ok. Don't worry.' His hair was a sandy brown color and was neatly sitting there. But what really got her was his eyes. His bright blue eyes…They seemed mesmerizing, like she was in a trance. She calmed down immediately.

"That's better…" He muttered, leading her over to her bed so she could sit down.

"D-Don't touch me…" She warned. "I can do it myself…"

"Yeah…I'd like to see you try…"

She cautiously looked up at the boy. "Who are you anyway?"

"Are you _really_ that oblivious?"

She gave him and angry glare and asked him again, "Who are you?"

"I'm your brother."

**A/N: Duhn duhn duhn! So what does Gabe have to say? If you're an avid reader of mine and you remember "The Nightmare Before Christmas" this Gabe intro will sound oddly familiar…lol…Sorry I cut it off so awkwardly…**

**Reviews?**


	13. Chapter 12

**A/N: Hey people! Sorry I didn't upload this sooner…But here it is! I think a few more chapters and we'll be good. Cuz right now I have a plot point going on and then I'll skip to a time-lapse/symptom montage chapter and then the fun stuff starts!**

**So…here we go! And yes, oreoprincess0401, Henry is back! YAY! I missed him too…lol…**

**P.S. Henry has a sister is named Holly in my world. And her baby is named Skylar after Skylar Astin, who (next to Jennifer Damiano of course) is my favorite actor from Spring Awakening (also next to John Gallagher Jr., but that's not important now…). I like Spring Awakening…;D**

**REVIEW PLEASE! FOR THE LOVE OF SKYLAR ASTIN!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own N2N! How many times do I have to say this before people know I don't own it?**

"G-Gabe?"

He nodded, throwing Natalie a smirk of satisfaction. Her eyes widened immediately at the sight of him. She shook her head, backing up from him. _No…this isn't happening…This is just a dream…_

"No…y-you can't be him…he's…he's-"

"Dead? Yeah. I know. Don't rub it in…" He finished a bit defensively.

"God, I've gotta wake up from this stupid nightmare…"

His smirk turned into a grin as he went to sit next to her on her bed. "You're not dreaming, sis…"

He leaned in towards her and pinched her as she gasped in pain. Rubbing her sore arm, she moved on to option number two. "Ok, then I'm crazy…"

"Crazy is a bit of an understatement for this family, don't you think?" She remained silent, not knowing how to react. "Anyway, you're not crazy and this is real life. I'm right here in front of you. Now…we need to talk, Nat."

She rolled her eyes and scooted away from him, finding herself on the other side of the bed. "Don't call me that…I'm not a child anymore…"

"That's debatable actually…considering your _current_ position_…._"

She froze and angrily looked back at him, turning around in the process. He was nowhere to be seen. A bit confused and nervous, she turned back around only to find him sitting next to her on that side. She let out a small shriek of surprise before throwing him the glare once again.

"That's what you're here about, isn't it?"

"Uh, yeah…"

"Well, what do you want to know? That my life is even more of a hell then it was before? That I can't go one day without someone bothering me about my stupid pregnancy?"

His face softened a bit as the original overprotective glare faded into a more pitiful one. She was scared, he could tell. His original plan to confront her had been shattered, now seeing that all she really needed was someone to listen to her and comfort her, not to condemn her.

"I'm not trying to bother you…" He confessed quietly. "I just want you-"

"To be safe. Yeah, I know. I've heard that all before…"

"Well, _that_…and I want you to know that we're here for you. All of us. Mom, Dad, and me. We only do the things we do because-"

"You only want what's best for me?" She turned away from him angrily.

"Yes, and because we love you and we want to keep you safe."

She took a moment and just stared at him. She stared into his blue eyes…She had to admit, they were stunning. _He_ was stunning. She imagined what it would've been like to have an older brother to watch out for her. Life would be easier…And now. He said that he cares for her, like a big brother should. She couldn't help but to feel a bit connected to him, like he knew exactly how she felt. _Maybe it's a sibling thing…_ she thought, remembering that Henry and his older sister had the same connection.

"I-I'm just…scared…" That's all she said. And that's all she needed to say. He knew exactly what she meant.

"I know…" He put an arm around her shoulder in a brotherly way. "This is a scary thing…"

"I mean, I don't know what scares me more: The fact that I'm gonna have to go through all this shit and pain and still turn out to be a fucked up mother or that I'm too afraid to raise my own daughter…"

He quickly threw his other arm around her and hugged her. "Don't be afraid…you have to be strong."

"But I _can't_…"

"Yes you can. I know you can." He released her from his grasp and just smiled at her. "Look, I have to go…Mom's waiting for me….Just be strong…for the baby."

"Ok…" she muttered, trying to smile back at him.

"Remember that we're here for you. I'll see you later then. And next time I think we need to talk about that boy toy of yours…"

He threw her a sly smirk as she glared at him challengingly, "Don't bet on it…"

"Too late…"

She giggled and rolled her eyes at him before suddenly jumping and gasping as she heard a knock at her door. Her head flew towards the door but soon turned back to say goodbye to her brother. But he was already gone…

"Gabe?"

The knocking continued. She could now hear a shout from the hallway.

"Natalie?"

It was her father. She tried to shake off the last fifteen minutes as she went to go open the door. He gave her a small smile, something he hadn't done in a long time.

"Hey, Dad…what's up?"

"Just wanted to make sure you were ok…Emily told me what happened."

She looked down at her feet, a bit embarrassed. "Oh…right…I'm fine though…"

"Ok, then…Go get some sleep, Nat."

He began to walk away when Gabe's words rang through her head.

"_I want you to know that we're all here for you. All of us."_

"Dad?"

He stopped in his trails and turned around to look at her.

"Do you…think we can talk? Me and you?"

He smiled and replied immediately. "Of course. First thing in the morning…"

He began to walk away once again before she called him out. "Dad? Real quick, can I ask you something?"

"Ok…" He walked over to her and waited for her to speak.

"Do you think I'm crazy?"

He scanned his eyes over her face. She was dead serious. He embraced her and whispered, "No…You're not crazy. To be honest, you're the only person around here that keeps me sane."

She smiled and embraced him back, absolutely joyful that she was having this moment with her father, a moment to feel normal for once. "I love you, Dad…"

He stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head softly. "I love you too, Natalie."

* * *

She didn't see Gabe for a while. It had to have been at least a month before he showed up again. She loved having him around. It made her feel like a normal girl for once. She had an older brother to look out for her, to help her through the hardest time of her life.

And then, of course, she still had Henry. He had already taken on to working nights and weekends to help to pay for the expenses that came with raising a child. He was there supporting her the whole way too. Although, names were still out of the question.

She was about halfway through her six month. During the week, Henry told her that he wanted to break the news to his parents. She was a bit confused as to why he waited so long to do so, but she calmly agreed to go with him that weekend.

* * *

They had reached Henry's all-too-familiar house. It wasn't too far from her own, but it was a decent distance. They were still in the car sitting in the driveway.

"Ok," he said, coaching her on what was to come. "You know my mom just got remarried, like, five months ago?"

"She did?" She was a bit confused. How come he never told her? "Well, congratulations to her…"

"Yeah, and _only_ her. My stepfather's a bastard. He hates me and I can never figure out why…"

"No!" She added with mock enthusiasm. "Who could hate you, Henry?"

He rolled his eyes at her and continued. "So he's at work right now, so it's just my mom, my sisters, and us."

"Sisters? I thought-"

"He has a daughter. And she's a bitch too…"

She sort of laughed at how serious he was taking this. _He thinks __his__ family's fucked up…wow…_He shrugged as they both got out of the car and walked to the door. He knocked and the door quickly flew open to reveal a young woman, no older than 25. She passed her eyes across Henry but let out a loud squeal as she saw Natalie.

"Oh my God! _Natalie?!_"

"_Holly?!"_

The two girls squealed and hugged each other. Henry sat there awkwardly watching the two. He remembered that Natalie seemed to be best friends with his older sister, Holly. Holly had gotten married last year and she had invited Natalie to the wedding with Henry. They shared a lot of the same interests: music, piano, and especially when it came to making fun of people for the random hell of it.

The two girls pulled away from each other, Holly's eyes falling right onto Natalie's huge stomach.

"You are_ not-!"_

"Yes…I am…"

"You're pregnant?! Oooh, I'm so happy for you!"

They hugged again, this time Henry came between them. "Ok, she's had enough. Step away from the pregnant girlfriend…"

Holly grabbed him by the shoulders and teased him. "Oh, Henry…someone's been naughty…" He pushed her aside as he began to walk away from her. "I'm just kidding…no need to get all defensive, Mr. PMS…"

Natalie tried her hardest to stifle the giggles that were coming up. Henry grabbed onto her hand and dragged her into the kitchen, where oddly enough, there was a small playpen set up on the floor with a tiny baby sitting in it, staring up at the two.

"What's with the baby?" she asked, a bit confused.

"It's Holly's. His name is Skylar, which personally, I think is a stupid name…"

"So he's your nephew? Aww…"

"What?"

"She's gonna have a cousin…"

He slipped her a small smile and right away planted a huge kiss on her lips. Her hands flew to her stomach almost as soon as he was done. She was almost motionless as she stared down at it.

"What?" He asked, placing his hand next to hers.

"She kicking now…"

He went in to kiss once again, but they were soon interrupted by a loud shout.

"Henry? What exactly are you doing?"

**A/N: Um…This was an interesting ending to a weird chapter. Although the Dan and Nat stuff was cute…**

**Reviews anyone?**


	14. Chapter 13

**A/N: Hey there! Ok, spring break is over so I won't be updating as often. Sorry to keep you hanging too…lol…**

**This chapter's kinda short. It's basically almost a filler but then it starts to branch off into the fun stuff! And YAY HENRY for being an awesome Baby Daddy! Read on, read on…**

**REVIEW PLEASE!!!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own N2N…yadda, yadda, yadda…you get the drill…**

Both Henry and Natalie froze as the source of the voice was revealed. It was none other than Henry's mother who angrily glared over the two of them. She was quickly followed by a younger girl who had short wavy light brown hair. She looked nothing like Henry, so Natalie could only guess this was his fabled stepsister.

"Henry?" his mother asked once again.

"What?" he replied, obviously pissed off. Natalie could tell. He had that certain quality to his voice when he was angry. It scared her sometimes.

"What are you two doing in here?"

"Nothing…what does it look like?"

"It didn't look like nothing…" the girl added with a smirk.

"Shut up, Abby…" Henry retorted, giving her a stern glare.

"Make me…"

Natalie couldn't help but to smile. She wondered if this was what Henry felt like when she was first introducing him to her parents: awkward, confused, detached.

"Anyway, Mom, can we talk to you alone?" Henry added, giving Abby a look that told her to leave the room, which she did reluctantly.

"Ok, so what do we need to talk about?"

He looked over at Natalie and grabbed her hand, inhaling deeply. "Well, there's no easy way to say this…"

"I'm pregnant." Natalie finished for him, throwing him a small smile.

And almost like everyone else who knew, Henry' s mother just stared at the couple in shock, almost like she hoped that if she denied it, it would go away. "What do you mean?"

"That we're having a baby, Mom." He clarified for her, relieved to get it off his chest. "We're having a baby girl."

She still remained in shock, horrified at the words that her son just spoke. "So you mean to tell me that you got your girlfriend pregnant and you've waited _this_ long to tell me?"

"Well, I knew you'd be angry…"

"Henry, I'm more angry about the fact that you lied to me rather than the fact that your girlfriend's pregnant."

Natalie let out a sigh of relief. _Ok, maybe this'll go better than I thought…_

"How far along are you?" Henry's mother asked her.

"Oh, um, six months…"

"Are you two keeping the child?"

"Yes…"

"Well, I think that's a mistake."

_Or not…_Natalie was a bit confused at her reaction. "Why's that?"

"Personally I don't think neither of you are fit to raise a child. Henry, a child is a huge responsibility. Do you really think you're ready for this?" He nodded defensively, getting angry with his mother. "Well, I wouldn't trust any child with a former pothead… Yes. I know."

Natalie could feel how tense he was, as he squeezed her hand harder with each statement. But she herself was a bit surprised. _Former pothead? What the hell does she mean? _

"And your girlfriend here doesn't exactly have a great temper either. Well, of course, I don't blame her…it all comes from the parentage…"

Natalie's eyes widened as she knew exactly what the woman was referring to. Without saying anything, she angrily stormed out of the room, leaving Henry alone with his mother.

"Nice going…" He angrily stated. "Look, I don't care what you think. I think we're ready. Maybe you turned out to be a fucked up mother, but I know one thing for sure. Natalie won't. And I won't have her end up sad and alone like you. I'll stay with her through everything. I've already made so many sacrifices for her. God, I'm already working like two jobs, I'm there for her every moment of the day, I even quit smoking for her. Now if you don't think that's responsible, then I don't know what is…"

Without another word, he got up and walked away from her to find Natalie.

* * *

They were in the car, just about ready to leave when Natalie piped up, "Um, back in there. Your mom…she said you quit smoking…"

"Yeah…I did…." he replied, starting the engine.

"Why?"

"For you, for the kid."

She threw him a huge smile. "Thanks…"

"It's nothing, really…"

"Yes it is. I know how hard it is to get clean. And you did all of that for her." She looked down at her almost-baby, placing her hands on her still-growing belly. She leaned over to Henry and kissed him quickly. "You're gonna make a great father, you know."

He couldn't help but to smile. "You really think so?"

"Yes…don't listen to what she says. You'll be fine…"

He took his chance and grabbed onto her hands, pulling her towards him, kissing her like there was no tomorrow. She was right. He was going to be fine. As long as he had her there with him, everything would be fine.

* * *

Two months later and he was still thinking the same thing. Natalie was at her biggest now. School had become more of a hassle than a daily activity. The extra weight had caused her to get short of breath very easily and it put so much pressure onto her back and legs. Her ankles had began to swell, making her constantly put her feet up wherever she sat.

She was in gym class one day. Due to her condition, she wasn't allowed to physically participate in heavy activity that they did. Of course, there were always the bitches who teased her just for the fun of it.

"Well, well, well…" one girl in her class muttered out loud. "If it isn't the Hemmingway High School whore…"

"Just leave me alone, ok?" Natalie protested, trying to get away from them.

"Why? Are you gonna puke on me or something?"

"She said, leave her alone." Another girl piped up.

All eyes were now on her. And to Natalie's surprise and annoyance, it was Rosie who had spoken out.

"Yeah, you heard me. Leave her alone. Now."

The rest of the girls scoffed and walked away, pretending like they weren't intimidated.

"What the hell was that for?" Natalie asked angrily.

"I thought about what you said…I'm sorry for what I did…Really, I am…"

"Sorry doesn't cover it…" She angrily retorted and began to walk away.

"Then what will?"

Natalie froze in her tracks and turned around to face Rosie. "You mean you're apologizing?"

"Yes. C'mon, Natalie…you're one of my best friends. I can't stand being mad and you and I'm pretty sure you feel the same."

Natalie took a moment to evaluate her words. She'd never thought about it before. Maybe she didn't really want to be angry all the time. Maybe it was just her first instinct, her way of coping. Her glance towards Rosie softened a bit as she gave her a slight smirk.

"Maybe I do…Ok, fine. I forgive you and such…Just, don't do it again…"

"I won't, trust me…"

The two girls quickly embraced each other and giggled.

"Thanks, Nat…" Rosie mumbled, pulling away.

"Don't mention it."

* * *

Diana had called Natalie, telling her to come over at the end of the week for her regular visit. And soon enough, the weekend came at last. She had Henry drive her, considering her current state. They arrived soon at Diana's apartment. She quickly greeted them and then the three of them went out to dinner before coming back sooner than expected.

Natalie had been complaining of some nausea and just completely lost her appetite. As soon as they got home, Diana told her to go lay down on the bed. She took her mother's advice and tried her hardest to fall asleep. But something was keeping her from doing so. She could hear Henry talking to Diana about what was going on with Natalie in the living room.

"I mean, she just seems so…different, you know? Like she isn't herself."

"Well, it could mean the baby's coming soon…" Diana suggested. "It's probably already fully developed by now. It could come any day."

Natalie's heart skipped a beat as she overheard her mother. _The baby can come any day now?_ She was starting to wonder when exactly she was going to have her baby. _Any day now…_

All of the sudden, the nauseous feeling had soon gone away as she felt a wet trickling stream coming from between her legs. Stupidly, she thought she wet the bed, but when she came to realize it, it was anything but that.

Nervously she shouted, "M-Mom…I-I think my water just broke…"

**A/N: GASP! What a cliffhanger! What will happen next?!**

**Reviews?**


	15. Chapter 14

**A/N: WAAAAAAHHH! It's the end! This chapter's like super long and a bit dull cuz I'm sooo tired…but here's the end! It's adorable! **

**Thank you too all my readers and reviewers and people who favorited. You guys have helped me to recreate this story. And it's not my most popular with almost 800 total hits. THANKS GUYS!**

**Review Please!!!!! PLEASEEE!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own N2N…*sigh* I do own Gabby though (or Gabrielle, I just refer to her most of the time as Gabby ex: "It's Gonna Be Good I Think") Yay Gabby! You get your own story next!**

"Mom!" Natalie cried again as if she didn't hear her to first time. Diana came rushing into the room, Henry quickly following her. Before either of them could even blink, he climbed next to Natalie on the bed, taking her hand in is own.

"Ok," Diana sighed, smoothing her daughter's hair. "Well, you're about to go into labor. Now, I'm just gonna warn you…it's going to hurt. It'll all be over quickly, but for now, just try to relax. You're in for a long night…" She gently backed away from Natalie, who was absolutely paralyzed with fear. "The contractions should start soon…"

Natalie was beyond terrified now. She'd been feeling some tight pain in her lower abdomen for about an hour now. She just thought there were little cramps like she'd been getting all month. But these seemed a lot worse. Was she already in labor?

"I think they already started…" she added, clenching her teeth in pain.

"Ok…We need to get you to the hospital as soon as possible, then."

"I'll drive," Henry volunteered, running his hand up and down her arm soothingly.

He began to help Natalie up when she just protested, "What about Dad? Aren't you gonna tell him?"

Her mother nodded softly as Henry finally got her up off the bed. His arms were around her shoulder, supporting her at all times. They were quickly out the door and headed towards the elevator. Diana smiled to herself, glad that Natalie had someone like Henry there for her. She went to pick up the phone to call Dan to tell him the news. But before she could do anything she was startled by a sudden voice.

"Mom?" It was Gabe again. "What's going on?"

"She's having the baby…"

"_Now?!"_

"Yes…now…"

And without another word, he quickly dashed after the couple, hoping to catch them soon.

* * *

Meanwhile, Henry had managed to get Natalie into his car. He started the engine as he tried to think of something to get her mind off the pain.

"You doing ok?" He'd ask every three minutes.

"I dunno…" She paused to whimper in pain for a moment. "Do you think I've ever had a baby before?"

He rolled his eyes at her and continued to drive. She tried to stare out the window, hoping that it would calm her down. But not now. Whatever she did, the pain quickly followed.

She clutched her huge stomach and just whimpered pitifully as Henry made a sudden turn at a red light. "Jesus, Henry! Watch it!"

The both of them shared the same nervous glare, unsure of what was to come.

"Henry…" she almost whispered. "It hurts…bad…"

"Ok…" He began to take his free hand and place it on her shoulder, rubbing it gently. "We're almost there…everything's gonna be ok, Nat…"

"Hurry…"

He was surprised about how calm she was. He knew that she was probably in the worst pain of her life right now and she acted like it was nothing. But when he grabbed her hand, he could feel her shaking, how tense and scared she was.

"Henry, _please…_"

"Shhh…It's ok…we're almost there. I promise."

"You said that five minutes ago!" she shouted, trying to get her mind off the pain.

"I know…" Thankfully, he saw the hospital appear in the distance He let out a huge sigh of relief. "Ok…we're here…"

He quickly parked the car and ran to go get a wheelchair for Natalie, who could hardly even walk by now. She gasped in pain and carefully slid into the chair. Without waiting, he pushed her from the parking lot into the waiting room. He pulled her over to a front desk, where a nurse sat filing paperwork. He grabbed her hand gently and kissed her forehead.

"I'll be right back, ok?"

She nodded and cringed as he walked away. He went to go fill out her information for a room as she let her mind reel. _Shit…Oh, shit…What do I do? Godammit!_ She braced herself for another contraction, which had became more and more frequent. She noticed that Henry turned his head to look at her as she just practically fell apart. Their eyes met, both with a glance that just cried 'help.' He tried to smile at her, but he went back to filling out papers. She knew that he was worried too, just as much as she was. She could tell he was shaking a bit, keeping his hands in the front pockets of his jeans. She just wanted to pull him into a comforting embrace and assure him that everything would be ok…but the again…She had her doubts…

Henry rushed back over to her and just grabbed her hand once again. "We've gotta get to the room now. You just relax…"

He followed the nurse showing them the way, looking down pitifully at his girlfriend. They arrived quickly at the room as both him and the nurse helped Natalie onto the hospital bed. The nurse told the two that they were paging Natalie's doctor and that she would be there shortly.

She quickly walked out, as Henry turned to Natalie, "Are you doing ok?"

"No…I don't know…

"How bad does it hurt? On a scale from1 to 10?"

She rolled her eyes. "Fucking 10..."

"Hey, don't swear in here. This is a family environment." he gave her a corny, Henry-ish smile. "And we're about to become a family, so you might wanna clean it up a bit…"

She tried to smile a little she just couldn't. "I'm so scared…"

"Me too…And once we're done with this, we're gonna be parents…Exciting, huh?"

She groaned deeply in pain as the contractions hit yet again. Quickly, and without warning, her doctor burst through the door.

"Good evening, Natalie," she muttered. "Well, I see you're a little premature, but nothing to worry about. She should be just fine. Now, have you decided how you're going to deliver?"

"Um…the normal way…?"

"So you're going to vaginally deliver?"

"Eeew…" Henry shuddered, disgusted. "How the hell is it supposed to fit in there?"

"Well, I dunno, Henry. _You've _been in there before." Natalie responded with a dirty smirk. "You tell me…"

"Sorry I asked…" He rolled his eyes and listed to what else the doctor was saying.

"Well, it should be a few more hours, so make yourself comfortable. I'll be back to check on you soon. If the pain gets too intense we can call for the epidural sooner." She gave the two of them a small smile and walked away quickly, leaving the young couple alone. Henry's hand remained wrapped around her own. He just sighed and held her in a small, subtle embrace, not wanting to hurt her.

"Hey….I'm gonna go call my parents. They'll be wondering where I am, anyway… Are you gonna be ok alone for a few seconds?"

"Yeah…I'll be fine…"

"Ok. I'll be right outside of you need me…"

He slowly let go of her hand and walked out of the room. Natalie had to admit that she was a bit nervous about being alone in here, in case something happened. But she wasn't as alone as she thought. There standing in the doorway now was Gabe.

"Natalie?"

"What are you doing here?"

"I came to see my niece…" He threw her a half-smile and sat on the edge of the bed. "How are you doing?"

"Good, I think…I have no clue…God!" She was hit by another contraction she wasn't prepared for. "It hurts _so_ bad…"

"I know, but that means everything's going smoothly. In a few hours, little baby what's-her-name will make her way into the world…Did you decide on a name yet?"

"Well…I have this idea, but I don't know if Henry'll like it or not…"

"Ok…lay it on me…"

"No! I want it to be a surprise!"

He rolled his eyes and laughed at her. "Of course…Well, just remember what I told you. I gotta go see if Mom and Dad are here yet. I'll let you know when they are."

"Thanks…"

"Don't mention it…"

All of the sudden, Henry walked back into the room and Gabe disappeared.

"Who were you talking to?" He asked, a bit concerned.

"Oh…um…" She noticed that her cell phone was on the table next to her. "My Dad just called to see what's going on…"

"Ok…"

She tightly gripped the sides of the bed, trying to channel her pain somewhere else. He noticed that hurting herself more wasn't working.

He gave her his hand again and whispered, "If it hurts too much, squeeze my hand."

"But what if I hurt you?"

"You won't…Trust me, though. It really helps."

She waited for the next contraction as she tightly squeezed his hand as hard as she could. He was right. It did help. He removed his hand from her grip for a moment to shake it off.

"See? I _did_ hurt you…"

"No…you didn't hurt me…You've just got a strong grip…"

She paused to laugh a little, but it only hurt more. Slowly, he asked her to scoot over slightly as he went to lay next to her in the bed, wrapping his arms around her and kissing the back of her neck. He expected at least a little giggle or a smile even, but she would only emit groans of pain. It hurt her bad now, he could tell. Her eyes were tearing up with each coming contraction. He felt terrible for her.

"You know," He whispered into her ear. "If I could, I would've done this for you any day. I would've gladly taken on the burden. I hate having to have to watch you in pain."

"Thanks, Henry…" She turned her head towards him and kissed her ever so gently. "I love you…"

"I love you too…"

And with that, they remained together for hours, waiting for the baby to come.

* * *

Her parents had shown up. Diana was trying to calm her daughter down, explaining to her what was going to happen, step by step. Dan, however, was talking to Henry, who was looking over at Natalie every so often.

"I mean," he began, removing his eyes from Natalie. "I don't know if I can handle this…this parenting thing…"

"It's not as easy as it sounds. Most of it is instinct. Baby's crying you know she needs something."

"Yeah, but what if something happens? Like what if I drop her or something?"

Dan chuckled, remembering when he was in Henry's place. "You won't. Don't worry about it. You two will be great parents."

Meanwhile, Natalie was discussing almost the same topic with her mother.

"God, I mean…how am I supposed to do this? We have school still, I'm going off to Yale next year. And I mean, Henry's not gonna be anywhere near there. I don't want my kid to grow up not knowing her father…"

"Didn't you get accepted to a school that's near his?"

"Well, yeah. NYU. But I don't wanna go there…"

Diana shrugged and looked her daughter in the eyes. "You're about to become a mother. It's time you start thinking about what's best for your child now."

Natalie shrugged and practically cried out in pain. "M-Mom…I think she's coming…_now._"

Henry overheard her comment and quickly rushed over to her side, giving her his hand to squeeze. It had to be at least three in the morning by now, so when she squeezed, he jumped awake from the pain. Diana had run to get the doctor while Henry tried to calm Natalie down.

"Hey…hey…" he shushed her and spoke to her gently. "It's ok…We're almost done…Just a little bit longer, ok?"

She nodded as the doctor quickly came into the room, followed by Diana. She propped Natalie's legs up properly and took a peek to see if the baby was on its way.

"Well, Natalie, you were right. We can see a little bit of the head, which means she's on her way out. Now, don't push until I tell you to, ok? Remember to breathe when you push. Don't hold your breath or you'll pass out."

Natalie nodded and cried out again. She grabbed Henry's hand and squeezed it hard. It was starting to really hurt him now, but he didn't mind. He was doing it for her.

"Alright, Nat, I want you to start pushing, ok? Ready?"

She nodded and braced herself for the pain With so much force, the baby's head continued to slide out. It hurt her more than the contractions.

"_Henry…"_ She muttered, grabbing his other hand now.

"Ok, Natalie, that was good. We need a few more and she'll be out. Ready? Push now."

And so she continued the cycle. She pushed, she felt the most intense pain of her life, she grabbed onto Henry's hands, which were now all bruised, and start again.

They had been working for about a half-hour by now. The baby was just about out.

"Ok, you're doing wonderful, hon. Just one more big one and you'll be done."

Natalie nodded with every little ounce of strength that she had left, which wasn't much. She took a deep breath in and tried to push as hard as she possibly could. She just couldn't…_Oh, God…I-I can't…just screw the kid! I don't want this anymore!_

"Nat?" She looked over at Henry, who had been put in some scrubs to prevent illness to spread to the baby. "You ok?"

"I-I can't do it anymore, Henry…I just can't…"

"You're almost there…Just a little longer. That's it and I promise you'll be done."

She took a pause as the overall pain everywhere increased. "You promise?"

"I promise."

She tried once again, but still nothing. She was too weak from her earlier stages of labor. This time she was determined to give up. She couldn't do it. But as soon as these thoughts crossed her mind, she felt a familiar cold grasp on her shoulders. She looked up and saw Gabe standing over her.

He quietly whispered, "C'mon, Nat. Don't give up now. You've come so far…"

She cried out in pain again, as her face screwed up. Her eyes were burning, either from the sweat or the tears, she would never really know. She felt encouraged by her brother's faith in her and so she gave it one last push, practically shouting in the intense pain.

But all she could hear next was the loud wails of the child as she emerged into the world. She did it. She got through it all and she had her brother to thank. The nurses quickly cleaned her up and wrapped her in a small pink blanket. They handed her over to Natalie who graciously accepted the small bundle.

The little girl was probably the tiniest thing she'd ever seen in her life. She had a small tuft of brown hair, exactly like her parents. She was brightly looking around, trying to figure out where she was. And soon her eyes met with Natalie's. The eyes are what astounded her the most. They weren't brown like Natalie's or Henry's…

They were big and as blue as the sky. Quite like…_Gabe…._

The little girl, who was still nameless, gave her mother a small smile as she wrapped her tiny hand around Natalie's finger. She never thought that she could be this happy around another human being. Except for now.

"She's beautiful, Nat…" Henry muttered, kissing her on the cheek. "Just like her mother."

"You wanna hold her?"

He took a moment to think but quickly took the child into his own hands. She practically froze as she saw her father, a permanent smile on her face. He lightly stroked the girl's tiny cheeks, which left him in awe, beaming at his daughter.

Gently, he handed her back to Natalie. "You know, she still needs a name…"

"Well, good 'cause I have one."

"Ok. What is it?"

"Gabrielle."

He knew exactly where she was going with this. "You want to name her after your dead brother?"

"Well, yeah…in a way…"

"I thought you hated his no-longer-living guts?"

"I do! I mean, you know how siblings are…"

"Ok…"

She shook her head and looked down at he girl and finalized. "Gabrielle Diane Davis…I like it…"

"Why is she taking my last name?"

"Because I'm gonna marry you, dumbass…"

He completely froze in place, very glad he wasn't holding Gabrielle anymore. "Wh-What?"

"You told me you'd marry me, remember? And I said eventually, which really meant after the baby was born. So…eventually should be coming soon in a year or two."

He gave her one of the brightest smiles she'd ever seen come from him. He embraced her as tight as he could without strangling the baby. As soon as he was done Diana burst through the door, dragging Dan along with her. She gasped softly as she saw Natalie serenely holding her daughter on the hospital bed.

"Oh, God, Nat, she's gorgeous…"

Natalie looked up to find her mother standing next to her. She gently handed Gabrielle to Diana, who shook her head.

"She's pretty plump for being so premature…What did you name her?"

"Gabrielle."

Diana let the reference pass over her head at first but soon realized what she meant by it. "Y-You don't mean…"

"Yes…" Natalie whispered so only her mother could hear it. "I see him too…"

She almost teared-up a bit as she went to embrace her daughter and her granddaughter at the same time. As Natalie looked up from the embrace, she could see Gabe smiling in the doorway, telling her, "You did it, Nat. Nice job…"

She wanted so badly to reply but she would've frightened everyone else in the room. Henry's arms soon replaced Diana's around her body as he went to lay next to her and the baby again. She kissed him and muttered, "Congratulations, Daddy…"

"You too…"

Her lips pressed harder against his like this was a perfect euphoria. For once, she felt normal. She felt like she knew where she belonged. Right here with her family. She thought about the past year and smiled that she ended up where she was now.

And it was a whole lot better than before.

**A/N: AWWWW! Hey! I incorporated the title! How corny! Lol…Well, it's over!**

**Reviews anyone?**

**(P.S. Catch a Sneak Peek at "Whispering" the sequel to this in the next chapter!)**


	16. Whispering Sneak Peek!

**A/N: Welcome to the Sneak Peek of "Whispering!" (Yes i got the title from Spring Awakening...go figure...)..It's told fro the POV of sixteen year old Gabrielle "Gabby" Davis, aka, Nat and Henry's daughter. I won't tell you who 'he' is...you'll just have to guess! So, this is a bit of a pilot!**

**REVIEW PLEASE!**

**Dislcaimer: I don't own N2N! But I own Gabby!**

The dark is everywhere. The only thing I can see is the shimmer of the razor in the moonlight.

"C'mon." He begs me, giving me a pitiful yet guilty stare. "Just do it."

The silver razor blades give off that shine, the familiar luster of metal. I look at it again.

"You know you can do it. Don't back out of it now, Gabby."

I try to reason with him, but he won't listen. "But…But I don't want to anymore…"

"You told me you did…"

"B-But…I can't…my mom-"

He grabs my shoulders and shakes me hard. "Listen to me. Don't let her get in the way of what you want. Just do it…"

I push him away, backing off as he falls to the ground. "Get away from me…leave me alone…leave my family alone…"

"I _am_ your family."

"Not anymore."

I run from my room to my parents' room, hopefully finding someone there. My father sits alone on the bed, pen and a notebook in his hands. I slowly slink into the room, hoping to go unnoticed.

"Dad?"

He turns to me, his big brown eyes staring into my blue ones. "Hey. What's up, Gabby?"

"He's back."

He gives me a painful look as a sit down on the bed next to him. His arms are soon around me. "Ok…he's gone. He's gone now. Never coming back."

I cry into his shoulder, looking for comfort, knowing that I will find little in my mother.

I may seem like some sort of childish creep…I mean, I'm sixteen and I still confide in my parents when I'm scared of something. They're the only ones who could help me. The doctor diagnosed me with ADD, but as my condition developed, it was my mother who found the true cause.

I'm bipolar. God, I'm a freak and no one knows what I go through…

I'm Gabrielle Davis, and this is my story.


End file.
